Denmark, US to set up working group on Greenland

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (KUNA) -- Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt held talks with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington where they agreed to form a high-level working group on Greenland.
"We came here following -- remarkable public comments on Greenland and Arctic security," Rasmussen told reporters outside the Danish embassy after the meeting on Wednesday. "Our aim was to find a joint way forward to increase Arctic security. What can the Kingdom of Denmark do more? What can we do more? What can NATO do more? "The Kingdom of Denmark has already stepped up our own contribution by committing additional funds for military producers, not dog slates, but ships, drones, by the Jets, etc. And we are definitely ready to do more," he said.
"The US has already a wide military access to Greenland under the 1951 defense agreement, the US can always ask for increasing its presence agreement.
"Therefore, we wish to hear if the US had any further request to make.
"In this aspect, we would examine any such request constructively Greenland is, through the Kingdom of Denmark, a member of NATO, and has been that since the very founding of NATO in 49 and is therefore also covered by Article Five.
"We have been pushing for quite a while in NATO for a stronger collective role in Greenland, together with a number of allies. And we are eager to work with the US on advancing this agenda, and we are prepared to go further.
"Therefore, our aim was to find a common understanding on all these points and to launch, if possible, further in depth work to deliver them.
"On this basis, we had what I would describe as a frank but also constructive discussion. "The discussions focused on how to ensure the long-term security in Greenland," Rasmussen went on.
"And here, our perspectives continue to deeper, I must say, the President has made his view clear, and we have a different position.
"We, the Kingdom of Denmark, continue to believe that also the long term security of Greenland can be insured inside the current framework, the 1951 agreement on the defense of Greenland, as well as the NATO Treaty.
"For us, ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, the right of certain termination of the romantic people are, of course, totally unacceptable, and we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree, and therefore we will, however, continue to talk.
"We have decided to form a high-level working group to explore if we can find a common way forward. "The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark, we expect that such a group will meet for a first time within a matter of weeks," he added. (pickup previous) rsr.gb