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GREENLAND

Danish PM ‘disappointed and surprised’ over Trump cancellation, but wants close relationship to continue

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen commented on Wednesday afternoon on US president Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a state visit to Denmark.

Published: 21 August 2019 15:42 CEST
Danish PM 'disappointed and surprised' over Trump cancellation, but wants close relationship to continue
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks to press in Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Trump had been due to visit Denmark on September 2nd-3rd at the invitation of the Queen, but announced on Twitter late on Tuesday night that the visit was off, citing Denmark’s unwillingness to countenance selling Greenland, an autonomous part of the Danish Kingdom.

“Based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Trump tweeted.

The White House has since confirmed the visit had been called off.

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“I’d like to say that I am, of course, both disappointed and surprised that the American president has cancelled his state visit,” Frederiksen told press in Copenhagen on Wednesday afternoon.

“Like many others, I was looking forward to the visit,” the PM added.

“We were full speed ahead with preparations.”

Frederiksen stressed the ongoing importance of the relationship between the two countries, and also said she did not expect any effect on “trade or security-related questions”.

“The United States is one of our closest and most important allies and we have many shared interests which we would have liked to discuss during the visit,” she said.

“Possibilities and challenges” related to the Arctic region would have been one of the areas to be discussed, the PM said.

“Our desire for a more strategic and stronger relationship with the USA with regard to the Arctic remains completely unaltered, and as such, our invitation for a stronger strategic partnership with the Americans is still open,” Frederiksen said in Danish.

She then read out an English version of the statement, with international attention high following Trump’s recent comments about buying Greenland from Denmark and subsequent scrapping of the state visit.

Prior to Trump’s cancellation via Twitter on Tuesday night, Frederiksen had been unequivocal in her response to the US president's unsolicited speculation about buying Greenland.

“Thankfully, the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there,” she said during a trip to Greenland last weekend.

READ ALSO: Five things to know about Greenland

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MINKS

Danish government criticised over post-election mink text announcement

The Ministry of Justice announced in a statement on Tuesday evening that SMS messages sent by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen or her staff in relation to the decision to cull fur farm minks in November 2020 could not be recovered.

Published: 18 November 2021 13:51 CET
Denmark's government said on Tuesday it could not recover text messages requested by an official commission in relation to an ongoing inquiry. The timing, hours after local elections, was strongly criticised by opposition lawmakers.
Denmark's government said on Tuesday it could not recover text messages requested by an official commission in relation to an ongoing inquiry. The timing, hours after local elections, was strongly criticised by opposition lawmakers. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

As such, an official inquiry currently scrutinising the decision last year to cull millions of fur farm mink will not have insight into key government communication relating to the controversial decision.

The PM has faced questions over a policy to automatically delete texts after 30 days, a practice not universally applied across government ministries.

“It has only been possible for police technicians to recreate a limited amount of SMS messages from the devices of justice ministry heads of department,” justice minister Nick Hækkerup said in the statement.

READ ALSO: Why are Danish PM Frederiksen’s deleted mink texts causing controversy?

The timing of the announcement, less than 24 hours after local elections, drew immediate criticism from opposition parties.

The Ministry of Justice received the material needed for analysis of the devices on Friday last week, news wire Ritzau reports.

Justice spokesperson Morten Dahlin of the opposition Liberal party said it was “easy to assume” that the government held back the announcement to avoid a negative impact for the Social Democrats in local elections.

READ ALSO: How damaging is local election result for Danish PM Frederiksen?

“It’s foul play not to go public with this information when it was received, but instead choose to keep it back. And you can only speculate about whether this is because the information wasn’t allowed to come out before the municipal elections,” Dahlin said.

The Liberal representative stressed that his party has “no confidence” in the government’s response to the controversy over the mink texts.

Hækkerup rejected the suggestion by the Liberals that the government had deliberately withheld information until after the election.

“That is simply not true. The process was that we in the Ministry of Justice received the material in sealed envelopes on Friday. We agreed on Monday with the Mink Commission [official inquiry, ed.] that we should meet with the commission and its assistants which was to have the material and review it with their clients. So it’s a process that was agreed with the Mink Commission,” Hækkerup said.

The minister’s comment was in turn rejected by his opposition counterpart.

“The explanation that the information was stored in sealed envelopes, which were coincidentally not opened before the municipal elections, is ridiculous,” Dahlin said.

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