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Rumor: US Spies on Greenland 05/09 06:47
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told The
Associated Press "you cannot spy against an ally" after reports that the United
States has stepped up intelligence gathering on Greenland, a semi-autonomous
Danish territory coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Frederiksen's comments Friday are the latest in the spat between Denmark,
Greenland and the United States because Trump seeks to annex the strategic
Arctic island. Denmark and Greenland insist that the mineral-rich island is not
for sale, while Trump has not ruled out taking it by military force even though
Denmark is a NATO ally.
The Danish prime minister spoke to the AP the day after Denmark summoned the
top American diplomat in the country for an explanation following a Wall Street
Journal report which said several high-ranking officials under the U.S.
director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had directed intelligence
agency heads to learn more about Greenland's independence movement and
sentiment about U.S. resource extraction there.
Jennifer Hall Godfrey, acting head of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, met
with high-ranking Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen at the Danish
Foreign Ministry, the ministry said in an email. It provided no further
details. The embassy declined to comment.
Frederiksen said Friday the report was "rumors" in an international
newspaper. The Journal cited two people familiar with the U.S. effort which it
did not identify.
"Cooperation about defense and deterrence and security in the northern part
of Europe is getting more and more important," Frederiksen said. "Of course,
you cannot spy against an ally."
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, in comments to Greenland
newspaper Sermitsiaq, said the reports of espionage are unacceptable and
disrespectful.
In response to questions about the Journal's report, Gabbard's office
released a statement noting that she had made three "criminal" referrals to the
Justice Department over intelligence community leaks.
"The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who
seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified
information," Gabbard wrote. "They are breaking the law and undermining our
nation's security and democracy. Those who leak classified information will be
found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Greenland's prime minister said last month that U.S. statements about the
island have been disrespectful and it "will never, ever be a piece of property
that can be bought by just anyone."
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Friday said those who believe
there is "another kind of legal regime in the Arctic" should be told that "this
is not the case."
Speaking ahead of a Joint Expeditionary Force leaders' meeting in Oslo, Gahr
Store said there seemed to be suggestions that "in the Arctic, there is some
kind of terra nullius, law doesn't apply."
"It applies, sovereignty applies. And Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of
Denmark," he said ahead of the meeting with the leaders of the U.K., Nordic and
Baltic nations.
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