Heritage Foundation urges Denmark to take Greenland talks seriously

Denmark must set aside its opposition to Donald Trump and take negotiations over Greenland’s future seriously because the United States’ demand for the territory will not go away, the Heritage Foundation told DR.

Paul McCarthy, a senior researcher at the conservative think tank responsible for European and foreign policy, said he believed Denmark was not taking the process seriously enough. He spoke to DR News at the foundation’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

Heritage Foundation is dissatisfied with Denmark’s willingness to negotiate in the high-level working group between the United States, Greenland and Denmark. Trump repeated the US demands concerning Greenland three weeks ago.

“My advice to our European colleagues and leaders is to put the emotional reactions to Donald Trump behind you, sit down at the negotiating table and see how much you can get out of the cooperation. The United States has a lot to offer,” McCarthy said.

The Heritage Foundation, the largest conservative think tank in the United States, advises the Trump administration, including the State Department, on development ideas for Greenland. One model it has discussed is what McCarthy calls the “Greenland Corporation”.

The foundation was established in 1973 under President Richard Nixon and has had significant political influence on both of Trump’s administrations. It provides analysis, policy recommendations, reform proposals and suggestions for appointments to the administration. It is also the main architect of Project 2025, a plan for reorganising the state and strengthening the president’s power.

Investment and security

McCarthy said Greenland was currently open to influence from what he called “very unpleasant regimes”, including China’s Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“We need to change that dynamic in the long term. It is not only about military bases. It is also about creating a stronger economy and more investment in Greenland,” he said.

Heritage Foundation believes Denmark has neglected Greenland in terms of both security policy and investment.

McCarthy proposed company structures and, in the longer term, state investment funds through which governments and private capital could form partnerships to invest in Greenland.

“If we wait, China will become the dominant investor, whether we like it or not,” he said.

“My message to Copenhagen is therefore: let’s get started. The goal must be for Greenland to become a Western, transatlantic project, not a project where China gains the upper hand.”

McCarthy said China wanted access to the rare earth elements beneath Greenland’s ice sheet. He described the threat as a long-term one rather than an immediate danger.

A shared project

Heritage Foundation, like Trump, insists that Greenland’s future will be shaped on US terms.

“Greenland will in any case become a shared project in the future, regardless of who has sovereignty or formal control. If Denmark continues to control Greenland, which I believe is the most likely outcome, that is fine. But the dynamic has changed,” McCarthy said.

He said the issue would not disappear because Greenland was located too close to the United States. The foundation nevertheless distances itself from the idea of Greenland becoming a US state.