Marc Jacobsen, Associate Professor from Royal Danish Defence College spoke to CGTN Europe about JD Vance’s visit to Greenland.The US interest in Greenland, particularly for its geostrategic importance and natural resources, has raised concerns among Greenlanders and Danes. The recent election in Greenland saw a victory for a party advocating for gradual independence, with most parties supporting eventual independence.
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00:00U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance will join his wife in her visit to Greenland this week.
00:05Usha Vance had previously announced her visit, however, the couple will now tour a U.S. military
00:11base.
00:12Denmark has welcomed their decision to downgrade the tour, having previously said the original
00:17visit would put unacceptable pressure on the island.
00:21President Trump has threatened to take over Greenland for national security purposes.
00:26Let's talk now to Mark Jacobsen, associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College.
00:32Mark, welcome, good to see you.
00:33Well, this is now a downgraded visit, just a U.S. military base on their itinerary.
00:40Will this keep everyone happy?
00:42No, certainly not.
00:44It's, well, first of all, in comparison with 24 hours ago, when the visit also included
00:50a dog race in Sissimut, in comparison with 24 hours ago, it makes people more happy.
00:59But still, people in Greenland, not least, but also in Denmark, are quite concerned about
01:06the U.S. interest in Greenland.
01:08We also heard the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, saying yesterday, for the
01:12first time, that Donald Trump, he actually means it, he wants Greenland.
01:18So that makes all of us very concerned.
01:21Why are the Pence's going?
01:26Pence is going, well, allegedly, I can only refer to his post on X, because there are
01:37immense threats to Greenland.
01:39He doesn't say any names of any states or any other actors, but he says there are immense
01:45threats to Greenland, and also because it's important for U.S. national security.
01:51And that's true.
01:52Greenland is geostrategically very important for the U.S. in protection against missiles,
02:00for instance, from Russia.
02:01So the shortest distance from missiles from Russia towards the U.S. goes via the North
02:07Pole, via Greenland.
02:10And therefore, the location of the P2F space base, recently known as the Thule Air Base,
02:16is immensely important.
02:19But it's important to emphasize, and I hope that he will also become more aware of this,
02:25that the U.S., they can actually, they can increase their military presence, they can
02:29invest in mining activities, especially have a special interest in rare earth elements.
02:35This is all possible without having to buy or conquer Greenland.
02:40There was recently an election there, just several weeks ago.
02:44What was the message from voters?
02:48The message from voters was that the two largest parties became the former opposition parties.
02:55So the one, that one, known as Demokratiet, is the one most against U.S. influence, and
03:02more say that they will have, they need a steady development towards independence.
03:09So all parties, there are six parties in, sorry, five parties in the Greenlandic parliament,
03:14four of them agree that the end goal will be independence.
03:18What they do not agree on is what independence means and how soon it should be.
03:26So the one that got the most votes say that we should build the house from the bottom
03:34and up, not start with the roof, meaning that they need better living standard before they
03:42are mature enough to become independent.
03:47And then we got the second largest party, Naleraq, which has the opposite position.
03:52They say better be independent today than tomorrow, and also they are more open and
03:58more positive towards the U.S. than the other parties.
04:01Mark, good to see you.
04:02Thank you for that.
04:03Mark Jacobsen, Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Defence College.