Danish PM calls alleged U.S. influence operations in Greenland ‘unacceptable’

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she takes DR’s investigation into alleged U.S. influence operations in Greenland—involving at least three men with ties to the White House who cultivated contacts and sought to shape opinion—“very seriously,” calling any interference in the Kingdom of Denmark’s internal affairs “unacceptable” in an interview with DR on Wednesday.

Frederiksen said she also spoke Wednesday with representatives of the U.S. Senate and conveyed that the alleged activities are “unacceptable.”

“We have said very clearly that this is unacceptable,” she told DR.

The government response includes diplomatic steps. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has summoned a U.S. diplomat for what he described as a preventive conversation where Denmark will state its objection very clearly. Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said he will raise the issue with visiting senators, underscoring that Denmark is a close ally of the United States and expects respect for the Kingdom of Denmark.

According to DR, the alleged operations include compiling a list of Greenlanders who support the U.S. president, attempts to recruit people for a secession movement in Greenland and Denmark, and efforts to surface issues that could cast Denmark in a negative light in American media. DR reports the men’s activities have been described by sources as infiltration and influence efforts; it has not established whether they acted independently or under orders.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen said the American government does not control private citizens and emphasized that the United States respects the Greenlandic people’s right to determine their own future.