Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has publicly supported his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, after she called on the United States to abandon threats to forcibly take over Greenland. Speaking to broadcasters, Starmer said he stood with Frederiksen and agreed that the future of Greenland should be decided solely by its people and Denmark.
Asked whether he shared Danish calls for Donald Trump to stop raising the idea of US annexation, Starmer replied: “Yes.” He emphasised that Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are the only parties entitled to determine the island's future, noting Denmark's role as a close European and Nato ally.
The prime minister’s comments came after Mike Tapp, the migration minister, repeatedly declined to criticise the US stance in interviews earlier on Monday. Tapp said diplomacy was “delicate” and refused to provide a running commentary on the matter.
Trump has reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland, citing national security concerns, and claimed that Denmark is unable to manage the territory. His deputy chief of staff’s wife, Katie Miller, posted a map of Greenland with a US flag and the caption “SOON,” prompting a sharp rebuke from Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Nielsen described Miller’s remarks as “disrespectful” and stressed that relations between nations must be based on mutual respect and international law. In a later post, he said: “Threats, pressure and talk of annexation have no place between friends. Enough is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”
Frederiksen had earlier stated that the US has no right to annex any part of the Danish kingdom, which includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Starmer’s endorsement reinforces European solidarity against the US stance, with the British leader asserting that only Greenland and Denmark can decide the territory’s fate.
