Jean-Noël Barrot is in Greenland’s capital since yesterday to express Paris’ “solidarity” with the authorities, whose territory has increasingly become the focus of US interest.
On Saturday, the minister toured the French naval vessel BSAM Garonne docked in Nuuk harbour. “These regions may be remote, but they are now exposed to new forms of tension and aggression. That is why France, as a major maritime power, is present here,” Barrot stressed.
In recent days, Danish broadcaster DR revealed that at least three men with links to US President Donald Trump had conducted influence operations on the Arctic island. One of them is reported to have compiled a list of Greenlanders sympathetic to the United States, while also gathering the names of those opposed to Trump.
Following the summons of an American diplomat by Danish authorities, Washington urged Copenhagen to “calm down”, according to BBC. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen earlier insisted that “any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom [of Denmark] will of course be unacceptable.”
Since his election, President Trump has repeatedly declared his “need” for Greenland in terms of both national and international security, pointedly refusing to rule out the use of force to acquire it.
In March, US Vice-President J.D. Vance accused Denmark of failing to do enough to protect Greenland during a visit to the Pituffik Space Base.
Just weeks before, Trump-aligned influencers had already been handing out money and caps to island residents, as Euractiv reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Greenland in mid-June to underline European solidarity. Earlier this year, France had not ruled out sending European troops to Greenland “if our security interests are at risk”.
Both Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly insisted the island is not for sale and that its future will be decided by Greenland itself.
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