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Greenlanders torn between anxiety and relief after White House talks / Photo: Alessandro RAMPAZZO - AFP
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Greenlanders torn between anxiety and relief after White House talks
Greenland's residents expressed a mix of anxiety and relief after a meeting was held Wednesday in the White House between officials from the United States, Denmark and the island at the centre of President Donald Trump's focus.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous territory under Copenhagen's sovereignty, met on Wednesday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an attempt to clear up "misunderstandings" after Trump spoke repeatedly of the possibility of seizing the island.
"It's very frightening because it's such a big thing," said Vera Stidsen, 51, a teacher in Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
"I hope that in the future we can continue to live as we have until now: in peace and without being disturbed," Stidsen told AFP.
Following the meeting, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen expressed "fundamental disagreement" with Washington over the fate of the Arctic territory while Trump said he thought "something will work out".
Red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity during the talks.
In one shop in Nuuk, a t-shirt with the slogan "Greenland is not for sale" was almost sold out, according to an AFP reporter.
'Living in peace'
Faced with comments by Donald Trump that the US would "have" Greenland "one way or the other", authorities there were working to keep a sense of calm for the island's 57,000 residents.
Ivaana Egede Larsen, 43, watched a broadcast of the press conference given by Lokke and Greenland's foreign affairs minister Vivian Motzfeldt, in a cafe on Wednesday, tears welling up as she felt a flood of relief that the meeting appeared to have been cordial.
"I am more calm now, and I feel more safe," she said.
"Our hearts have felt very unsafe lately because of Trump's very direct, very aggressive way of talking about Greenland," she added.
Frederik Henningsen, 64, a janitor, also felt some optimism.
"They didn't manage to make an agreement but I have my hopes because I want to live in peace," he said.
W.Kretschmer--BlnAP
