Information for Trump: Denmark’s final envoy to Greenland says U.Ok. might have first dibs

If President Trump tries to purchase or annex Greenland, he might face a competing declare from an previous ally: Britain.

That is in response to Tom Høyem, 83, who served as Denmark’s final minister for the autonomous territory of Greenland from 1982 to 1987, after which the place was discontinued. He has visited the island 46 instances, wrote a e book about it and says he considers Trump’s curiosity “very positive and very constructive” for its protection.

Greenland is wealthy in uncommon earth minerals and uranium, and will show strategic for international transport routes, as Arctic ice melts with local weather change. Regardless that Danish officers have stated Greenland shouldn’t be on the market, Trump retains repeating his want for it, telling reporters Saturday, “I think we’re going to have it.”

Høyem says Britain may very well have proper of first refusal, primarily based on diplomatic talks that occurred greater than a century in the past, leading to a 1917 treaty between the U.S. and Denmark. The British authorities was concerned in these talks due to Greenland’s proximity to Canada, which on the time was ruled by Britain.

The treaty outlines a deal by which the U.S. bought a cluster of Caribbean islands — now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands — from Denmark for $25 million, in alternate for recognition of Danish sovereignty over Greenland. It was signed by then-President Woodrow Wilson and his secretary of state, Robert Lansing.

“I do not know why President Trump’s civil servants have not shown him the document that his predecessor President Wilson signed — this official document — that says Greenland has been, and will always be, Danish,” Høyem advised NPR in a cellphone interview Monday from Germany, the place he now lives.

The ultimate textual content of the 1917 treaty makes no point out of any British position. However Høyem, who’s an professional on Greenland’s historical past, says British assist for the treaty was contingent upon this level.

“The idea was that if Denmark ever got the stupid idea to sell Greenland, then United Kingdom had the first right to buy it or be consulted on its future — because of Canada,” he says.

NPR has requested the British Library and U.Ok. Nationwide Archives for copies of any declassified diplomatic cables which may assist Høyem’s account, however has not but heard again.

Tom Høyem in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2014.

Uli Deck/image alliance by way of Getty Picture

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Uli Deck/image alliance by way of Getty Picture

One other professional on the Arctic tells NPR she’s by no means heard of any such British declare. It hasn’t been a part of any mainstream tutorial or diplomatic conversations, she says.

“We live in a world of rules-based order,” says Jennifer Spence, director of the Arctic Initiative on the Belfer Middle for Science and Worldwide Affairs at Harvard College. “If we started opening up historical agreements on all former colonies of different countries, things would get pretty chaotic pretty quickly.”

“Russia could come to the U.S. and ask for Alaska back,” she advised NPR by cellphone from a convention in Norway.

As for British officers, it doesn’t matter what their predecessors might or might not have stated within the lead-up to this 1917 treaty, they’re unlikely to get entangled in any present discussions over Greenland’s future. U.Ok. International Secretary David Lammy has repeatedly downplayed Trump’s claims.

In response to an NPR question, the U.Ok. International Workplace wrote in an electronic mail Monday that it considers Greenland to be a part of Denmark, and that its future standing is a matter for the individuals and authorities of Greenland, and the dominion of Denmark.

NPR additionally contacted the Danish prime minister’s workplace, the Danish International Ministry and the Greenland Committee in Denmark’s Parliament for remark about Høyem’s account — however has not but heard again.

For its half, Greenland has asserted its proper to self-determination, and most Greenlanders favor independence from Denmark. One current ballot with a small pattern measurement confirmed a majority favor becoming a member of the USA.

However Høyem says many Greenlanders are “irritated” with Trump’s discuss of a takeover.

“It’s a U.S. businessman’s way of operating,” he says. “We are modern people now, and to use the words ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ — that’s a ghost from the past.”