00:00Just days after his country and the United States inked a deal on Greenland, Martin Liedegaard was the first Danish
00:07ministers to speak exclusively to Euronews about the agreement.
00:11The deal de-escalated a months-long diplomatic crisis over the Arctic territory, triggered by threats from US President Trump
00:19to seize it by force.
00:21The business minister expressed hope that a new chapter can now begin.
00:25For more on this, I'm joined by Euronews' Lauren Walker.
00:30Good morning, Lauren.
00:31So what sense did you get from Minister Liedegaard on how momentous this agreement is?
00:37Yeah, good morning, Stefan.
00:38So I think there is a clear consensus here that this is a very positive outcome.
00:44Denmark and Greenland, I think it's fair to say, will be breathing this sense of relief, this sigh of relief.
00:50Because the agreement essentially brings an end to months of uncertainties and diplomatic difficulties for both parties.
00:59Cast your mind back to the start of this year, where Trump threatened several EU countries with sanctions.
01:07Now, this was in response, basically, to them criticising another threat he made that he would, quote unquote, take Greenland.
01:15Now, over this, he cited national security concerns.
01:18Obviously, we need to bear in mind as well that there are these, it's a strategic location for the US
01:24and the mineral wealth of Greenland as well.
01:28Now, when we look at the agreement itself, it's not really a new agreement.
01:32It's more of rebranding, adding on to an agreement from 1951.
01:38But there are some key differences here.
01:40One being Greenland is a signatory.
01:42That's very, very important, obviously, to Greenland.
01:45And then there are also these clauses that they've added that basically closes the door of Greenland for mining and
01:52military purposes to non-EU, non-NATO countries, unless, obviously, all three signatories agree otherwise.
02:00And this mining, Martin Liddegart also told me, is very, very important for Nuke.
02:06We've also heard this from Nuke themselves, because they really want to exploit the raw critical materials that they have
02:13in Greenland.
02:14Yeah, Nuke, of course, being the capital of Greenland.
02:17Now, from what you say, can we identify winners and losers here?
02:21So, I want to start, obviously, with the Greenlanders.
02:24They will be very, very happy because this agreement, it really recognizes their right to basically decide on their own
02:32future.
02:33Denmark, as I said, is very, very happy because it brings an end to this very, very difficult, tumultuous period
02:39for them.
02:40And Liddegart himself also said that they're now hoping this will bring a new chapter.
02:44A lot of it, obviously, does evolve around the U.S. military and civilian access to Greenland.
02:52We've already heard these reports of two additional military bases.
02:56The U.S. already has one on Greenland.
02:58They now want to create two other ones.
03:01So, that's very, very important for them.
03:03I think it is important to say, though, and it's very notable, that the agreement does stop short of this
03:10call from Trump that he wanted Greenland basically to be recognized as U.S. territory.
03:16The agreement does not do that.
03:18However, this hasn't stopped Trump from making claims in recent days that the agreement gives him existential permanent control over
03:27Greenland.
03:28I put these claims to the Danish minister because, obviously, I was very interested to hear, does Denmark, does Copenhagen
03:35see this as in total, how would we say, in total contrast with what it says in the agreement that
03:42this is Denmark's sovereignty.
03:44But he brushed off any of these comments.
03:47There was a very clear consensus here that they wanted to focus on the positive.
03:51And he told me all three parties are winners here.
03:55Let's take a listen.
03:56Well, this is an agreement which all three parties are very satisfied by.
04:02And we are satisfied because that the territorial integrity is intact, that we ensure the self-dependence of the Greenland
04:13people.
04:14And I think that the Americans are very happy about the fact that they have a huge access to the
04:20Greenland territory when it comes to military bases,
04:22but also when it comes to minerals and stuff like that.
04:26And the Greenlandic are very happy about it because they have their self-dependence and, of course, can decide their
04:31own future.
04:33And then the different parties put different weight on different parts of the agreement.
04:38And would you say you're positive that this agreement will now set a course that we can avoid any escalation
04:45or the threats that we saw earlier over Greenland coming from the US?
04:49Yes, very much so.
04:51And it is my hope and my belief that now we can start a new chapter where we try to
04:58invest together in the security and the development of the Arctic region,
05:03also when it comes to nature and climate, but not least when it comes to defense and mining.
05:09In this agreement, it states that only EU or NATO countries can invest in Greenland.
05:14I want to ask you firstly, does this mean that there will be more, let's say, more investment in Greenland,
05:22perhaps more exploitation of critical raw materials in Greenland?
05:27I hope so.
05:29And I also think that the Greenlandic government hopes so.
05:32There is a huge desire in Greenland, you know, to grow, to create new jobs and also to, when it
05:39comes to mining, have a bigger sector than today.
05:43And that's, you know, you need investors, you need capital, but you also need a market.
05:49And here I sincerely hope that the EU can play a role.
05:53We need many supply chains when it comes to critical raw materials.
05:58I hope Greenland can be one of them.
06:00And what implications will this have on the EU, which is so clearly trying to secure its independence from other
06:08countries when it comes to these critical raw material supplies?
06:12I actually don't think so.
06:13I think there are minerals enough in Greenland that all who are interested to invest in Greenland can actually do
06:19it and benefit from it.
06:21But it will, of course, be up to the Greenlandic government who they deal with, where and in which way.
06:27But as I hear the Greenland government, they are open for business both with Europe and with the US.
