Canada and France, which both oppose US President Donald Trump’s claim to Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Friday, in a strong show of support for the local government.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has insisted that Washington needs to control the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
Trump last month backed off threats to seize Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence.
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss Washington’s security concerns in the Arctic, but details have not been made public.
While Denmark and Greenland have said they share Trump’s security concerns, they have insisted that sovereignty and territorial integrity are a “red line” in the discussions.
“In a sense, it’s a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk,” said Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland.
“There is great appreciation for the support against what Trump has said.” French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to open a consulate during a visit to Nuuk in June, where he expressed Europe’s “solidarity” with Greenland and criticised Trump’s ambitions.
The French consul, Jean-Noel Poirier, has previously served as ambassador to Vietnam.
“The first item on the agenda will be to listen to Greenlanders, to hear them, to let them explain in detail their position, and from our side to confirm to them our support, as much as they and the Danish side want,” Poirier told AFP before leaving Copenhagen for Nuuk.
Canada announced in late 2024 that it would open a consulate in Greenland to boost cooperation. That decision “came as Canada was choosing to strengthen its Arctic strategy when Trump’s return was expected,” French researcher and Arctic expert Mikaa Blugeon-Mered told AFP.
The opening of the consulates is “a way of telling Donald Trump that his aggression against Greenland and Denmark is not a question for Greenland and Denmark alone, it’s also a question for European allies and also for Canada as an ally, as a friend of Greenland and the European allies also,” Ulrik Pram Gad, Arctic expert at the Danish Institute of International Studies, told AFP.
“It’s a small step, part of a strategy where we are making this problem European,” said Christine Nissen, security and defence analyst at the Europa think tank. “The consequences are obviously not just Danish. It’s European and global.”
