In show of support, Canada and France open consulates in Greenland

COPENHAGEN – Canada and France, which both adamantly oppose US President Donald Trump’s wish to control Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Feb 6, in a strong show of support for the local government.

Since returning to the White House in 2025, Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needs to control the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island for security reasons.

In January, the US President backed off from his threats to seize Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.

A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss ways to meet Washington’s security concerns in the Arctic, but the details of the talks have not been made public.

While Denmark and Greenland have said they share Mr Trump’s security concerns, they have insisted that sovereignty and territorial integrity are a “red line” in the discussions.

“In a sense, it is a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk,” said Associate Professor Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland.

“There is great appreciation for the support against what Mr Trump has said.”

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Paris’ plans to open a consulate during a visit to Nuuk in June 2025, where he expressed Europe’s “solidarity” with Greenland and criticised Mr Trump’s ambitions. The newly appointed French consul, Mr Jean-Noel Poirier, previously served as ambassador to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Canada announced in late 2024 that it would open a consulate in Greenland to boost cooperation.

The opening of the consulates is “a way of telling Mr Donald Trump that his aggression against Greenland and Denmark is not a question for Greenland and Denmark alone”, Associate Professor Ulrik Pram Gad, an Arctic expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told AFP.

“It is also a question for European allies and also for Canada as an ally, as a friend of Greenland and the European allies also,” he said.

Dr Christine Nissen, a security and defence analyst at the Europa think-tank, said: “It is a small step, part of a strategy where we are making this problem European... The consequences are obviously not just Danish. It is European and global.”

Recognition

According to Prof Strandsbjerg, the two consulates – which will be attached to the French and Canadian embassies in Copenhagen – will give Greenland an opportunity to “practise” at being independent, as the island has long dreamt of cutting its ties to Denmark one day.

The decision to open diplomatic missions is also a recognition of Greenland’s growing autonomy, laid out in its 2009 Self-Government Act, Dr Nissen said.

“In terms of their own quest for sovereignty, the Greenlandic people will think to have more direct contact with other European countries,” she said.

This would make it possible to reduce Denmark’s role “by diversifying Greenland’s dependence on the outside world so that it is not solely dependent on Denmark and can have more ties for its economy, trade, investments, politics and so on”, said Prof Pram Gad.

Greenland has had diplomatic ties with the European Union since 1992, with Washington since 2014, and with Iceland since 2017.

Iceland opened its consulate in Nuuk in 2013, while the US, which had a consulate in the Greenlandic capital from 1940 to 1953, reopened its mission in 2020.

The European Commission opened its office there in 2024. AFP