Organizers have called on Danish and Greenlandic residents to join marches and rallies against US President Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland.
Massive demonstrations organized by Greenlandic associations have been taking place across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest US President Donald Trump’s ambitions to take over the Arctic island.
The aim of the protests is “to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights,” said Uagut, an association of Greenlanders in Denmark, on its website.
Thousands assemble in big Danish cities
Thousands of demonstrators assembled in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square at 12:00 p.m. local time (11:00 GMT), chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and holding banners with slogans such as “Hands off Greenland.” They then marched towards the US embassy.
“I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive… We are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,” Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, told the protesters.
“Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights,” she added.
Protests were also ongoing in the Danish cities of Aarhus, Aalborg, and Odense.
Protesters gather in Nuuk
The demonstration in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, began 4:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), according to the organizers, who say it is “against the United States’ illegal plans to take control of Greenland.”
Several thousand protesters, including the territory’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who was seen waving a Greenlandic flag, chanted slogans and sang traditional Inuit songs in the light rain.
Many of them wore caps bearing the slogan “Make America Go Away,” an AFP reporter noted, referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand.
Demonstrators marched to the US consulate carrying Greenlandic flags. The territory’s total population is about 57,000.
Dispute over Greenland intensifies
Tensions around Greenland have risen this month amid repeated insistence by US President Donald Trump that he wants the US to take control of Greenland.
On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% tariff on 8 European nations, including Germany, that oppose his plans to take over the semiautonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/thousands-oppose-us-plans-in-hands-off-greenland-protests/a-75546625
