Denmark summons US envoy after reported influence operations in Greenland
At least three Americans with connections to Donald Trump have been carrying out covert operations, according to the Danish national broadcaster.
Denmark’s foreign minister has summoned the top US diplomat in the country for talks after the main national broadcaster reported that at least three people with connections to US president Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.
Greenland, a huge semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, is coveted by Mr Trump. Denmark, a Nato ally of the United States, and Greenland have said the island is not for sale, and condemned reports of the US gathering intelligence there.
On Wednesday, public broadcaster DR reported that government and security sources as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the US believe that at least three Americans with connections to Mr Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory.
It said its story was based on information from a total of eight sources, who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society.
DR said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working on their own initiative or on orders from someone else.
One of the people allegedly involved compiled a list of US-friendly Greenlanders, collected names of people opposed to Mr Trump and got locals to point out cases that could be used to cast Denmark in a bad light in American media, the report claimed.
Two others have allegedly tried to nurture contacts with politicians, businesspeople and locals.
An influence operation is an organised effort to shape how people in a society think in order to achieve certain political, military or other objectives.
The broadcaster said it knows their names of the individuals involved, but chose not to publish them in order to protect its sources.
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement emailed by his ministry.
“It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead.”
“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom will of course be unacceptable,” Mr Lokke Rasmussen said.
“In that light, I have asked the ministry of foreign affairs to summon the US charge d’affaires for a meeting at the ministry.”
He added that cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland “is close and based on mutual trust”.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service responded to a request for comment by saying it believes that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds” that could aim to create divisions in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.
It said it “assesses that this could be done by exploiting existing or fabricated disagreements, for example in connection with well-known individual cases, or by promoting or amplifying certain viewpoints in Greenland regarding the Kingdom, the United States, or other countries with a particular interest in Greenland”.
The service, known by its Danish acronym PET, said that in recent years it has “continuously strengthened” its efforts and presence in Greenland in cooperation with authorities there, and will continue to do so.
