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ICELAND’S PRIME MINISTER Kristrún Frostadóttir has said that Donald Trump’s ambition to take over Greenland is “gravely concerning” to her country.
After forming a three-party coalition late last yaer, Frostadóttir’s government pledged to hold a referendum on resuming accession talks with the European Union by 2027.
Late last month, US Vice-President JD Vance visited an American military base in Greenland and claimed that a US take-over “makes sense”.
Trump has repeatedly suggested the US should, in some form, control the mineral-rich semi-autonomous territory of Denmark – a traditional US ally and Nato member.
The US president last month told reporters that the US needs to take over Greenland for “world peace,” as he doubled down on his ambitions to annex the territory.
Greenland and Iceland are neighbouring Nordic islands and in an interview with Euronews, Frostadóttir remarked that Iceland “very strong ties to the Greenlandic people”.
“We are a wholly Arctic nation. The Arctic is our home,” said Frostadóttir.
“It’s not just a concept in international relations for us. It’s where we live, so this is of grave concern.”
She added that remarks by Trump and Vance should not be “considered respectable” and she also voiced concern about Russia’s presence in the Arctic region.
“Small countries like Iceland thrive on the fact that we have international law, that borders are respected,” said Frostadóttir.
While she described the Arctic as a “peaceful zone,” she also cautioned that “we can’t be naive about the fact that there are a lot of interests involved”.
Frostadóttir became prime minister of Iceland in December and is the leader of the country’s Social Democratic Alliance.
Her party emerged as the largest following November’s snap election and she was asked to form a government by Iceland’s president in early December.
At 36, Frostadóttir is the youngest prime minister in Iceland’s modern political history.
Iceland is part of the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area (EEA), but outside the 27 member states of the EU.
In 2009, the Social Democratic Alliance applied to join the EU but in 2013, all accession talks with the EU were suspended and it was announced that talks would not resume unless first approved by a referendum.
A poll in January by Icelandic market researchers Prósent found that 45% of respondents were in favour of joining the EU, with 35% opposed and 20% neither for nor against.
Frostadóttir told Euronews that it was a “mistake” that there wasn’t “an initial vote asking the public whether they wanted to start this process” back in 2009.
When asked if Iceland would feel safer within the EU, Frostadóttir said that Iceland already felt safe “where we are right now” and added: “”We should join the EU as part of a broader picture.
“I don’t want to drive our EU accession talks based on fear.
“But of course, security is going to come up. And we might see a lot of changes in the coming weeks and months that might affect this.”
Meanwhile, she said Iceland will refrain from imposing retaliatory tariffs on Trump – her country was hit with the baseline 10%, as opposed to the 20% levy out on the EU.
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