Greenland prime minister expresses desire for island’s independence

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Greenland does not want to be American or Danish but independent, according to the Arctic island’s prime minister at the end of a tumultuous week following US president-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out force to take control of the territory.

Múte Egede said that “the status quo is not an option” as he laid out the desire of the vast and geopolitically crucial island of 57,000 to have “its own voice” by gaining independence from Denmark and turning down Trump’s attempts to buy Greenland.

“We don’t want to be Danish, we don’t want to be American, we want to be Greenlandic,” he told a press conference.

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said at the same meeting that Greenland’s desire for independence was “legitimate and understandable” while calling US interest in the autonomous territory “positive”.

This is a developing story