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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - COPENHAGEN — Canada and France, which both adamantly oppose Donald Trump's wish to control Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory's capital on Friday, in a strong show of support for the local government.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needs to control the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Paris's plans to open a consulate during a visit to Nuuk in June, where he expressed Europe's "solidarity" with Greenland and criticised Trump's ambitions.
The newly-appointed French consul, Jean-Noel Poirier, has previously served as ambassador to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Canada is set to open its first diplomatic outpost in Greenland in a significant show of solidarity.
A delegation of senior Canadian officials, including Governor General Mary Simon, and foreign minister Anita Anand, are travelling to Nuuk on Friday to formally open Canada's consulate, accompanied by a Canadian Coast Guard ship.
Ahead of the trip, Simon said in a speech that Canada "stands firmly in support of the people of Greenland who will determine their own future".
Their visit comes amid a similar trip made by French officials, who are due to open their own consulate in the territory the same day.
Canada announced in late 2024 that it would open a consulate in Greenland to boost cooperation.
"It's a small step, part of a strategy where we are making this problem European," said Christine Nissen, security and defense analyst at the Europa think tank.
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"The consequences are obviously not just Danish. It's European and global."
The opening of the consulates is "a way of telling Donald Trump that his aggression against Greenland and Denmark is not a question for Greenland and Denmark alone, it's also a question for European allies and also for Canada as an ally, as a friend of Greenland and the European allies also," Ulrik Pram Gad, Arctic expert at the Danish Institute of International Studies, told AFP.
The US president last month backed off his threats to seize Greenland after saying he had struck a "framework" deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss ways to meet Washington's security concerns in the Arctic, but the details of the talks have not been made public.
While Denmark and Greenland have said they share Trump's security concerns, they have insisted that sovereignty and territorial integrity are a "red line" in the discussions.
"In a sense, it's a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk," said Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland.
"There is great appreciation for the support against what Trump has said."
Iceland opened its consulate in Nuuk in 2013, while the United States, which had a consulate in the Greenlandic capital from 1940 to 1953, reopened its mission in 2020.
The European Commission opened its office in 2024. — Agencies
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