US to open Greenland consulate amid increased interest

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

US to open Greenland consulate amid increased interest

August 23, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to open a U.S. consulate in Greenland for the first time in decades amid increased strategic and economic interest in the Danish territory.

The State Department says in a letter to Congress that reestablishing a consulate in Greenland is part of a broader plan to increase the U.S. presence in the Arctic.

A copy of the letter was obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump sparked a diplomatic dispute with U.S. ally Denmark this week after he proposed that the U.S. buy Greenland and the Danish government rejected the idea.

The U.S. opened a consulate in Greenland in 1940 after the Nazi occupation of Denmark. It closed in 1953. The new one would open next year in the capital of the semi-autonomous territory.

https://apnews.com/5119c18eba764c98b1ccb988f2b59bb5

[Freethinker65]

1. Send Ivanka, the ICE Princess

[Sneederbunk]

2. The capital is Nuuk.

So residents of Nuuk are Nuuks. Greenland has Nuuks. Pass it on.

[bobbieinok]

3. And Greenland wants a US consulate---is begging for one NOT!!

[Haggis for Breakfast]

4. That was my thought. Why would they want/need one ?

Doesn't the host country get a say-so in this ?

[virgogal]

5. And who on earth would want the job?

[left-of-center2012]

6. Put it inside a McDonald's

[abqtommy]

7. Greenland is not a territory of Denmark as the op states,

it's an independent sovereign country under the umbrella protection of Denmark. Please be sure to get the truth of any story that the AP provides...

[Ghost Dog]

8. I think wikipedia has it right:

It is a self-governing, except in Foreign Affairs and Defense and Monetary Policy, territory under the Kingdom of Denmark. It is not in the EU.

... Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, having previously settled Iceland to escape persecution from the King of Norway and his central government. These Norsemen would later set sail from Greenland and Iceland, with Leif Erikson becoming the first known European to reach North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands. Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century when Norway was hit by the Black Death and entered a severe decline. Soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador in Canada).[18]

In the early 18th century, Danish explorers reached Greenland again. To strengthen trading and power, Denmark–Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Because of Norway's weak status, it lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became Danish in 1814, and was fully integrated in the Danish state in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark. In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC, which was effected in 1985...

In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted in favor of the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Greenlandic government. Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009,[19] Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for policing, judicial system, company law, accounting, and auditing; mineral resource activities; aviation; law of legal capacity, family law and succession law; aliens and border controls; the working environment; and financial regulation and supervision, while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defence. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time. Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources. The capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, mostly coming from hydropower...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland

[secondwind]

9. He's looking for land to buy. That is all. That is all he is doing

in the Dominican Republic. Looking out for Number One.