COPENHAGEN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The leaders of Denmark and Greenland on Sunday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to stop threatening to take over Greenland, after he reiterated his wish to do so in an interview with The Atlantic magazine.
"It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the U.S. needing to take over Greenland. The U.S. has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Danish Kingdom," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement on Sunday.
Trump told the magazine: "We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense."
He spoke a day after the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the president said Washington would run the Latin American country.
This raised concerns in Denmark that the same could happen with Greenland, a Danish territory.
Frederiksen said: "I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people, who have very clearly said that they are not for sale."
The prime minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement, also on Sunday: “When the President of the United States says that ‘we need Greenland’ and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it’s not just wrong. It’s disrespectful.”
STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT ISLAND
Trump on December 21 named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland, drawing renewed criticism from Denmark and Greenland over Washington's interest in the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Trump has advocated for Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, to become part of the United States. Landry publicly supports the idea.
The Arctic island's strategic position between Europe and North America makes it a key site for the U.S. ballistic-missile defence system, while its mineral wealth is attractive as the U.S. hopes to reduce its reliance on Chinese exports.
Greenland, a former Danish colony, has the right to declare independence under a 2009 agreement but depends heavily on Danish subsidies.
Denmark has sought to repair strained ties with Greenland over the past year, while also trying to ease tensions with the Trump administration by investing in Arctic defence.
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen, additional reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; editing by Gwladys Fouche, Cynthia Osterman and Diane Craft)
