Greenlanders protest opening of new US consulate in Nuuk
Hundreds of people gathered in the Greenlandic capital Nuuk to protest the United States' newly opened consulate. Demonstrators carried 'sovereignty' banners referring to the Trump administration's previous offer to buy Greenland. Denmark's foreign ministry said the opening 'goes no further than normal diplomatic representation'.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Inatsisartut parliament building in central Nuuk, chanting slogans throughout the opening ceremony of the US consulate. Police sources put the crowd at around 600, with smaller protests expected in Sisimiut and Ilulissat in the next 24 hours. The group said Trump's 2019 and 2025 offers to buy Greenland 'have not been erased'.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the consulate would focus on cooperation in science, fisheries and Arctic research. Greenland's prime minister, Mute Egede, posted on social media that 'Greenland is not for sale', while also stressing that he was not opposed to the consulate itself.
Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said the opening had been accepted through formal notification by Copenhagen in September. The Greens group in the European Parliament argued the consulate marks a new phase in Arctic resource competition. Washington underlines that the new mission is the first US diplomatic representation reopened in Nuuk since the 1940s.
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