Greenland PM visits Denmark as Trump threats loom

Greenland's freshly elected prime minister begins his first official visit to Denmark on Sunday as US President Donald Trump eyes the Danish autonomous territory.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen leads Greenland's new coalition government, after his centre-right Democrats party won a legislative election in March. It will be his first visit to Denmark since taking office.

It also follows a visit to the Arctic territory by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in early April, when she told the United States "you cannot annex another country".

"First and foremost, I will resume discussions with the Prime Minister about the geopolitical situation and cooperation," Nielsen said in a statement this week, referring to Frederiksen.

"It is important that we make plans for our future cooperation in these times," he added.

Tensions between the United States and Denmark have soared after Trump repeatedly said he wanted to take control of the resource-rich Arctic island.

The US president has insisted Washington needs control of Greenland for security reasons, refusing to rule out the use of force to secure it.

- 'International peace' -

"I think we need that for international peace, and if we don't have that it's a big threat to our world. So I think Greenland is very important for international peace," Trump told reporters Thursday during a press conference alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

In a statement announcing the visit, the Danish government said that cooperation between Greenland and Denmark would be the "focus" of Nielsen's visit.

"We must support each other in the difficult foreign policy situation Greenland and the Kingdom are in right now," said Frederiksen.

US Vice President JD Vance also paid a visit to Greenland in March, which both Nuuk and Copenhagen viewed as a provocation.

During his trip to the Pituffik US military base, Vance castigated Denmark for not having "done a good job by the people of Greenland".

"You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass," he told a press conference.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen responded on social media: "We are open to criticisms, but let me be completely honest, we do not appreciate the tone in which it's being delivered."

Nielsen himself said that "the United States will not get Greenland".

"We don't belong to anyone else. We decide our own future," he added in a Facebook post.

During his visit to Copenhagen, which will last two days, Nielsen will also meet Denmark's King Frederik and representatives of the Danish parliament.

In a separate statement, Denmark's Royal House said the king would then accompany Nielsen back to Greenland for a visit to the Arctic island.

Polls show a vast majority of Greenland's 57,000 people want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the United States.