Greenland is seeking to strengthen ties with the United States, and its citizens should not fear an imminent American takeover, Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday, following renewed interest in the Arctic island by US President Donald Trump.

European powers rallied behind Greenland on Monday, after the US military operation in which Venezuela’s leader was seized rekindled concerns that the island, an autonomous Danish territory, might face a similar scenario.

“We are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight,” Nielsen said at a press conference in the capital Nuuk, speaking via a translator.

“You cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country,” he said.

Trump, who said the US was taking temporary control of oil-producing Venezuela, has said repeatedly he wants to take over Greenland and told The Atlantic magazine on Sunday: “We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

In a Facebook post late on Sunday, Nielsen said: “Enough is enough… No more fantasies about annexation.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also addressed Trump’s comments: “I believe the US president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” she told broadcaster TV2.

“If the United States attacks another NATO country, everything stops,” Frederiksen argued. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

“We will not accept a........

© The Times of Israel