Denmark’s foreign minister summoned the top US diplomat in Copenhagen on Wednesday following reports that American citizens conducted covert operations in Greenland aimed at infiltrating society and promoting secession from Denmark to the United States.
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the US charge d’affaires to account after Danish public broadcaster DR reported on alleged American activities targeting Greenland’s independence movement, though sources could not clarify the operators’ specific affiliations.
“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom [of Denmark] will of course be unacceptable,” Rasmussen stated, confirming the diplomatic summons occurred in response to these concerns.
Danish intelligence services warned that Greenland faces targeting by “various kinds of influence campaigns” designed to exploit disagreements between Denmark and its semi-autonomous territory.
Danish intelligence warns of foreign influence campaigns targeting Greenland
The PET security and intelligence service assessed that influence operations aim to “create discord in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland” through traditional agents or disinformation campaigns exploiting “existing or invented disagreements.”
DR’s Wednesday report detailed one American’s visit to Greenland’s capital Nuuk, allegedly seeking to compile lists of Greenlanders supporting US takeover attempts for potential recruitment into secession movements.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in annexing Greenland, stating this year he would not rule out seizing the territory by force. Vice President JD Vance accused Copenhagen of underinvesting in Greenland during a March visit to US military installations there.
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Mark Stroh, serving as charge d’affaires due to the absence of a US ambassador in Copenhagen, is the most senior American diplomat summoned by Danish authorities.
This marks the second diplomatic summons this year, following May reports suggesting US intelligence agencies received instructions to focus operations on Greenland’s independence movement and attitudes toward American mineral extraction.
Denmark’s relationship with Greenland remains complex, with the territory maintaining broad self-governance since 1979 whilst Copenhagen controls foreign and defence policy. Most Greenlandic political parties favour eventual independence but disagree on timing and methodology.
Polls indicate the vast majority of Greenlanders oppose US annexation, with territorial leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen stating in May: “We don’t belong to anyone else. We decide our own future.”
Danish wind company shares plummet amid US project halt
The diplomatic tensions coincide with US government actions affecting Danish commercial interests, including orders halting construction of Orsted’s Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island.
Shares in the Danish state-owned wind developer plummeted 16% Monday following the stop-work order for the 80% complete project designed to power 350,000 homes.
(Source: BBC)
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