Trump: 'We will take Greenland by hook or crook'. Local parties want autonomy

"At the moment I'm not yet talking about money for Greenland, but I might," said Donald Trump about the possibility of buying the island. "But now," he continued, "we're going to do something about Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it Russia or China will take control of Greenland and we're not going to accept having Russia or China as our neighbours," the US president said speaking at the White House. "If they don't want to do it the easy way, we'll do it the hard way," added Trump, who nonetheless described himself as "a big fan of Denmark".

In the meantime the leaders of the five Greenlandic parties represented in parliament declared that the people of their country would decide on their own future: 'We don't want to be Americans, we don't want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,' they emphasised. In the statement, the party leaders also asked the United States to 'stop showing contempt for our country. The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people,' the note continued. Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, is a largely autonomous territory, although it officially belongs to Denmark. "No other country can interfere. We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for a hasty decision, without hesitation or interference from other countries,' they insisted.