Lauren Boland Reports from Iceland

ICELANDERS HAVE LABELLED Donald Trump’s plans to annex Greenland “hare-brained” and “wild”.

The US president’s threats to take control of Greenland have stirred up concerns in its closest Nordic neighbour, where Icelanders are highly sceptical about the scheme.

“There are absolutely no grounds for occupying or buying Greenland,” one Icelander who spoke to The Journal said, while another said that Iceland is “vulnerable” if conflict kicks off in the region.

Trump has repeatedly stated his ambition to take control of Greenland – currently an autonomous territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – “one way or the other”.

During the summer, he said he could not rule out a US annexation of Greenland, while his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated that his department has developed plans to seize control of Greenland by force if deemed necessary.

Iceland and Greenland are around just 300km apart. Google Maps Google Maps

Speaking to The Journal on the sidelines of a conference on climate change in the Icelandic town of Hvolsvöllur this week, several locals said the threats by Trump against their nearest neighbour are unwelcome. 

“There is so much nonsense coming out of the White House that I don’t know exactly where this falls on the scale of totally hare-brained ideas, but it goes quite far,” said Dr Thorvardur Arnason, a professor at the University of Iceland. 

He said there is “absolutely no grounds for occupying or buying Greenland” by the US.

“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.

They are gradually extracting themselves from this history of colonial rule by our Danish neighbors.

“That’s taken a while, and it’s not easy for either party,” he said.

“They need space to do this so the Greenlanders can have their full independence… Donald Trump has absolutely no grounds at all to be interfering with this.”

In August, Denmark summoned the US charge d’affaires, the highest US diplomat in Denmark, after reports of attempted interference in Greenland. 

At least three US officials close to Trump had been observed in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, trying to identify people who could be used in anti-Denmark influence campaigns, according to Danish public television network DR.

It followed previous reporting by The Wall Street Journal that said US intelligence agencies had been ordered to gather information about Greenland’s independence movement and opinions on American exploitation of resources, as well as identifying people in Greenland and Denmark who support the US’s objectives.

Christopher Long, a conservationist from Scotland who has lived in Iceland for the last five years, said there is a “kinship” between Icelanders and Greenlanders.

“Greenlanders are still under the ownership of Denmark, and that’s something Icelanders can sympathise with as well, having only relatively recently gained independence,” he said.

Iceland was previously part of the Kingdom of Denmark but gained independence in 1918 and officially became a republic in 1944.

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“I think Icelanders feel for Greenlanders… there’s maybe a sense of some kind of brotherhood,” Long said.

Iceland is a member of Nato but has no army of its own, relying instead on its Coast Guard, which has a fleet of three patrol vessels with mounted weaponry, another ship for surveying the marine landscape and fishing inspections, and four aircraft. 

ICGV Freyja, one of the Icelandic Coast Guard's three patrol vessels, docked in Reykjavik harbour this week. Lauren Boland / The Journal Lauren Boland / The Journal / The Journal

Esther Jónsdóttir, a writer and researcher from Reykjavik, said Trump’s threats are a “concern” for people in Iceland.

“It’s hard to speak for everyone, but at least from my understanding and my view of things, it’s a little bit wild to hear this sort of rhetoric of someone wanting to take over a land,” she said.

“I think, in general, Iceland and Greenland have a good relationship… we share having been part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and there’s a lot of willingness to have co-operation.”

Jónsdóttir said that Greenland deserves to have its autonomy respected.

“It’s a country close by, and you never know – we don’t have an army or anything here, so we’re pretty vulnerable as well if things escalate,” she added.