US citizens with connections to White House reportedly try to create discord between Denmark, Greenland, according to Danish broadcaster
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Wednesday summoned the US envoy over reports that American citizens are running an influence campaign in Greenland, the state broadcaster DR reported.
"Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom will, of course, be unacceptable. In light of this, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the American charge d'affaires (diplomat, ed.) for a meeting at Asiatisk Plads," Rasmussen told DR.
This came after the broadcaster revealed that at least three US citizens with connections to President Donald Trump and the White House are trying to create discord between Denmark and Greenland -- an autonomous Danish territory that Trump insists should be American soil.
“These are men who travel back and forth between the US and Greenland and who are working to create what you might call a Greenlandic secessionist movement,” says Niels Fastrup, one of DR's investigative journalists.
Fastrup claims they build networks, infiltrate, and compile lists of people, either supportive or opposed to Trump and his bid to acquire Greenland.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service in Greenland also informed the broadcaster that Greenland has been the target of various influence campaigns.
Although the White House has not reportedly responded to the broadcaster's inquiries, the US Embassy in Copenhagen has sent a response from a representative of the US government.
“The president, vice president, and secretary of state have all been clear: the US respects the Greenlandic people's right to determine their own future,” the response says, stressing that the US government does not control the actions of private citizens who might have interests in Greenland.
