Denmark summons US charge d'affaires over Greenland 'interference' attempts

Denmark summoned the US charge d'affaires for talks Wednesday after reports of attempted interference in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory which US President Donald Trump wants to control.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said America needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.

The vast majority of Greenland's 57,000 people want to become independent from Denmark, but do not wish to become part of the United States, according to a January opinion poll.

Danish public broadcaster DR reported that government and security sources, which it didn’t name, believe that at least three Americans with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory.

One of those people allegedly compiled a list of U.S.-friendly Greenlanders, collected names of people opposed to Trump and got locals to point out cases that could be used to cast Denmark in a bad light in American media.

Two others have tried to nurture contacts with politicians, businesspeople and locals, according to the report.

DR cited eight sources, who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society. DR said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working on someone’s orders.

The New Arab could not independently confirm the report.

"We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.

"Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom will of course be unacceptable," he said, adding that he had "asked the ministry of foreign affairs to summon the US charge d'affaires for a meeting at the ministry".

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service also issued a statement by saying it believes that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds” that could aim to create divisions in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.

It said it “assesses that this could be done by exploiting existing or fabricated disagreements, for example in connection with well-known individual cases, or by promoting or amplifying certain viewpoints in Greenland regarding the Kingdom, the United States, or other countries with a particular interest in Greenland.”

This isn’t the first time Danish leaders summoned the top U.S. diplomat for an explanation about alleged spying in Greenland.

They did it in May, after the Wall Street Journal reported that high-ranking officials under Trump’s intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard had directed intelligence agency heads to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and sentiment about U.S. resource extraction there.

In an interview with news agency The Associated Press the next day, Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that “you cannot spy against an ally.”

The embassy declined to comment on the summoning of Jennifer Hall Godfrey, acting head of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen.

The service, known by its Danish acronym PET, said that in recent years it has “continuously strengthened” its efforts and presence in Greenland in cooperation with authorities there, and will continue to do so.