French Foreign Minister in Nuuk: "France Stands By Greenland"
France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot (MoDem). (Photo: Philémon Henry/the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot visited Nuuk this weekend to demonstrate France's solidarity with Greenland and Denmark, as well as to develop cooperation with the Greenlandic government.
In June, Greenland was visited by France's President Emmanuel Macron. This weekend, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot visited the Greenlandic capital.
"Greenland is a European territory. One does not rebuild a nation's greatness on the servitude of its neighbors," states Barrot on X after the visit.
The minister clearly refers to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to take control over Greenland.
At least three Americans linked to Trump are conducting influence operations in Greenland, DR reported last Wednesday. The US' top diplomat in Denmark was summoned by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs the same day.
"Faced with the brutalization of the world, the war of Russia against Ukraine, and the temptations of predation in the Arctic, France is clear: Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not to be taken," continues Barrot.
Partnership dialogue committee
Minister Barrot's visit to Greenland "demonstrates France's solidarity with Denmark, Greenland, and the Greenlandic people in the face of current challenges," the French ministry stated to the news agency AFP.
An overall focus of the visit was also to develop the cooperation between France and Greenland.
Barrot had meetings with Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Jens-Frederik Nielsen (D), the Greenlandic Prime Minister.
They agreed to establish a French-Greenlandic committee for partnership dialogue to ensure concrete results in the cooperation.
The French foreign minister also informed that France will open a Consulate General in Greenland at the beginning of 2026. Such an establishment was first announced by President Macron this summer.
Wants allied exercise activity
A formal cooperation agreement between France and Greenland also appears to be underway.
"We have now initiated the work to formalize our future cooperation relations. This will be carried out by officials," says the Greenlandic Foreign Minister Motzfeldt to Sermitsiaq.
Relevant areas of cooperation are said to be infrastructure, climate change, extraction of raw materials and defense.
The Greenlandic government also wants non-Arctic allies to conduct exercises on and around Greenland, Motzfeldt states to the aforementioned newspaper.
"Although we wholeheartedly support low tensions in the Arctic, the reality is that we are living in an uncertain time in which conflicts arise and turn into wars. In addition, major climate changes are opening new sea routes and not least the access to extensive natural resources, and these must be protected and benefit the Arctic people when extracted," she says and continues:
"This is among the reasons why we on the Greenlandic side have demanded a more realistic solution for the defense of Greenland, in which one is not only dependent on one country for protection. Therefore, we want our allies to take part in this protection, which France is willing to do."
Host of Arctic exercise
Motzfeldt also informs Sermitsiaq that Greenland and Denmark will host a major Arctic exercise in September, in which all Western Arctic states will participate.
The focus of the exercise will be security and defense in the region, says the Greenlandic foreign minister.
