France will open a consulate in Greenland on February 6, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Wednesday, calling the move a "political signal" over the strategic Danish territory, which US President Donald Trump has vowed to seize.
The comments came as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers are set to meet with US Vice President JD Vance at the White House later Wednesday
Since returning to office nearly a year ago, Trump has repeatedly mused about taking over Greenland from longtime ally and European Union member Denmark.
Barrot on Wednesday told French RTL broadcaster that the decision to open the consulate was taken last summer, when President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in a show of support.
"For my part, I went there at the end of August to plan the consulate, which will open on February 6," he said.
"It's a political signal that's associated with a desire to be more present in Greenland, including in the scientific field."
"Greenland does not want to be owned, governed ... or integrated into the United States. Greenland has made the choice of Denmark, NATO, (European) Union," he said.
Greenland's leader has said that the island would choose to remain an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Read more‘We don’t want to be Americans’: Greenland’s parties respond to new Trump threat
Trump has said the United States needs Greenland due to the threat of a takeover by Russia or China.
The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, where the United States has long had a military base.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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