「米国人になりたくない」 グリーンランド首相

【コペンハーゲンＡＦＰ＝時事】デンマーク領グリーンランド自治政府のムテ・エーエデ首相は２１日、グリーンランド独自の未来を切り開きたいと述べ、米国人になることは望んでいないと改めて表明した。２０日に就任したばかりのドナルド・トランプ米大統領が、グリーンランドの「所有と支配」への関心を再度確認したのを受けての発言だ。（写真は資料写真）
　トランプは今年、パナマ運河とグリーンランドを米国の支配下に置くためには軍事力行使を排除しないと述べ、警鐘を鳴らしている。
　トランプ氏は２０日の就任演説でグリーンランドについて触れなかった。ただ、ホワイトハウスの執務室での記者からの質問には「グリーンランドは素晴らしい場所。国際安全保障のために必要」と述べ、「デンマークも同意するだろう。維持するのに多くの費用がかかっている」と続けた。
　トランプ氏の発言を受け、エーエデ首相は、「われわれはグリーンランド人だ。米国人にも、デンマーク人にもなりたくない。グリーンランドの未来はグリーンランドが決める」と記者会見で述べた。
　気候変動による氷の融解で新しい航路が開かれる北極において、グリーンランドは戦略的な位置にあり、米国も北西部に軍事基地を持つ。
　北極圏での中国およびロシアとの対立が激しさを増す中、同地域における米国の利益を守るための対話にグリーンランド政府が前向きであることをエーエデ首相は改めて強調した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/01/22-20:40）

Greenland's prime minister said Tuesday the Danish autonomous territory wanted to stake out its own future and did not want to become American, following US President Donald Trump's renewed remarks about taking control of the island.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland under US control.
While Trump didn't mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, he was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security, Trump responded.
I'm sure that Denmark will come along -- it's costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it, he added.
But Greenlandic and Danish officials on Tuesday defended the Arctic island's right to self-determination.
We are Greenlanders. We don't want to be Americans. We don't want to be Danish either. Greenland's future will be decided by Greenland, Prime Minister Mute Egede told a press conference.
Our country and our people will decide what happens to Greenland, he said.
Noting that the country was facing a difficult situation, Egede reiterated that Nuuk was open to talks with Washington to safeguard US interests in the Arctic, at a time when rivalries with China and Russia in the region are growing.
The United States has an active military base in the northwest of Greenland, which has a strategic location in the Arctic as ice melts due to climate change and opens up new shipping lanes.
The world's largest island -- whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than Copenhagen -- also holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, although oil and uranium exploration are banned.
We have cooperated with the US on security issues for more than 80 years, Egede recalled.
He said officials were working to organise a meeting with the US to explain Greenland's position.
- 'Can't just help themselves' -
Egede acknowledged that Trump's recent remarks were worrying and had caused concern among Greenlanders.
But it is important to remain calm.
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said earlier Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country.
Of course we can't have a world order where countries, if they're big enough, no matter what they're called, can just help themselves to what they want, Lokke told reporters.
Greenland is scheduled to call elections before April 6, where the question of independence is expected to top the agenda.
Economically, Greenland depends on subsidies from Copenhagen equivalent to a fifth of its GDP, and on its fishing sector.
Despite its autonomy, Copenhagen is in charge of judicial affairs, monetary policy, foreign affairs, defence and security policy in Greenland.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to navigate a new reality with Trump as president.
While noting the Greenlandic people's right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US -- which she described as Denmark's most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister's office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
We have to recognise that the next four years will be difficult years, Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.