Denmark takes over as Arctic Council chair at a time when Trump eyes its territory, Greenland

TROMSOE, Norway (AP) — Denmark on Monday took over the Arctic Council’s rotating chairmanship from Norway at a time when security tensions over the region are fraught and U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to annex Greenland.

Denmark named Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s foreign affairs minister, as the new chair of the council, the eight-nation grouping of countries that border the Arctic. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, which has rebuffed Trump’s talk of buying the island.

When asked about negotiating with the U.S., Motzfeldt reaffirmed her government’s commitment to becoming an independent nation while still working with the Trump administration.

“I think that we have been very clear in our politics, that we don’t want to be Danes but we don’t want to be Americans, either,” she said. “And our cooperation in the new administration is very strong.”

During Norway’s two-year turn at the helm, the Arctic Council faced strain over how to deal with Trump and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia is the biggest Arctic nation and was council chair before Norway.

The council was one of the few settings where Western countries and Russia worked together closely, but members decided to suspend their work with Russia shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“The Arctic must remain a region where tensions are resolved through diplomacy, where Indigenous rights are protected and where cooperation prevails,” Motzfeldt said. “This is more important now than ever. We firmly believe that the cooperation will continue to build — even in uncertain times — and will lead to a stronger, more resilient future for the Arctic and its peoples.”

The Arctic Council does not deal with security issues but makes binding agreements on environmental protection and gives a voice to the Indigenous peoples of the region.

Its members are Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Six organizations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples are permanent participants of the council, which was established in 1996. Countries including France, Germany, China, Japan, India and Korea attend meetings as observers.