Rubio meets with Danish officials to discuss the Greenland purchase

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Wednesday his intention to hold a formal meeting with Danish officials next week. This meeting comes in response to an urgent request from Copenhagen to discuss President Donald Trump's repeated statements and persistent suggestions of US interest in Greenland, a self-governing territory under the Danish crown.

In a brief statement to reporters, Rubio said, "I will meet with them next week," without going into details of the agenda, but the general context clearly indicates that the "buying of Greenland" issue is at the forefront.

Diplomatic action and European solidarity

This announcement was preceded by intensive diplomatic efforts. Greenland's Foreign Minister, Viviane Motseveldt, announced that her government, in coordination with Denmark, had requested this urgent meeting to clarify American intentions. European countries did not remain passive in the face of these ambitions; France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement expressing their full support for Denmark in the face of Trump's demands, emphasizing respect for Danish sovereignty.

In a separate statement, the foreign ministers of the Nordic countries stressed that any issues relating to the relationship between Denmark and Greenland are a purely internal matter that must be resolved exclusively between Copenhagen and Nuuk (the capital of Greenland), rejecting any external interference affecting the island's status.

Historical background: This is not the first attempt

It is worth noting that the United States' interest in annexing Greenland is not a recent development, nor is it limited to the Trump era. Historically, the island has held immense strategic importance for Washington. In 1946, US President Harry Truman offered Denmark $100 million in gold to purchase the island, but the offer was rejected. Trump revived this idea during his first term in 2019, causing a temporary diplomatic crisis that led to the cancellation of a planned state visit to Denmark after the Danish Prime Minister described the idea as "absurd.".

Geopolitical and economic importance

Washington's strong desire to control Greenland stems from several strategic and economic factors that make it a major prize in the great power race:

• Military location: The island is home to Thule Air Base, the northernmost US military base, which plays a vital role in the ballistic missile early warning system and space surveillance, making it a key pillar of US national security.
• Natural resources: As the Arctic ice melts, the island's vast resources become more easily extractable. Greenland possesses enormous reserves of rare earth minerals essential for modern technology industries, as well as oil and gas, placing it at the heart of economic competition with China.
• Shipping routes: Melting ice opens new shipping lanes that shorten distances between continents, increasing the island's geopolitical importance as a gateway to the Arctic, an area of ​​escalating competition between the United States, Russia, and China.

The question remains as to what the upcoming meeting between Rubio and Danish officials will yield, and whether diplomacy will succeed in containing American ambitions or whether relations between the allies will witness renewed tension because of "Green Island".