After Frederiksen spoke to Trump for the first time since the incoming president refused to rule out military intervention to bring Greenland under US control, the Danish PM’s office said that she had "declared that it is up to Greenland itself to decide on independence".
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark with its own government.
In comments to Danish media, Frederiksen hinted further at the stance taken by Trump in the phone call, which she said lasted around 45 minutes.
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“There’s no doubt that there’s a great deal of interest in and around Greenland,” she told broadcaster TV2.
She said that she was taking Trump’s stated position at face value.
“Based on the conversation I’ve had today, there’s no reason to believe that it is less [serious] than we’ve heard in the public debate,” she said.
Asked if she was concerned about what Trump might decide to do, the Danish PM said she was “first and foremost” concerned about the security situation of the West and Denmark “as a country and as a Kingdom”.
“So I hope that everyone, and that also includes the Americans, will respect that Greenlanders should be allowed to define and decide their own futures themselves, like all other people and populations,” she said.
Government leaders met with senior opposition politicians over the matter last week, when Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen denied Denmark had been dragged into a foreign policy crisis.
Frederiksen did not comment on the description of the situation of a crisis but said it was “serious”.
“Everyone can see that,” she said.
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