Denmark demonstrators back Greenland in response to Trump’s takeover threat.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) In response to US President Donald Trump’s threat to annex the Arctic island, thousands of demonstrators flocked to Denmark on Saturday to show support for Greenland and demand that the US respect Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.

Trump claims that Greenland’s strategic position and abundant mineral resources make it essential to US security, and he hasn’t ruled out using force to seize it.

At Denmark’s request, European countries dispatched military soldiers to the island this week.

Demonstrators gathered in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square and marched towards the US embassy while chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and carrying banners with phrases like “Hands off Greenland” beside Greenland’s red and white “Erfalasorput” flag.

Julie Rademacher, head of Uagut, a Danish group supporting Greenlanders, stated, “I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive … we are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up.”

“Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights,” she stated.

Thousands of protestors were visible in Reuters video footage. Police and organizers’ spokespeople declined to give an estimate of the attendance.

The capital of Greenland, Nuuk, is set to host protests later on Saturday. Protests were also taking place in other parts of Denmark.

The United States and Denmark, two founding members of the NATO military alliance, are currently experiencing an unprecedented diplomatic crisis as a result of Trump’s repeated remarks regarding the island, which have been widely denounced throughout Europe.

The 57,000-person province of Greenland, which has been ruled from Copenhagen for centuries, has gained considerable autonomy since 1979, although it is still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which oversees foreign and defense policy and provides the majority of its funding.

In the end, all five of the political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament support independence, although they vary on when it will happen and have recently said that they would like to stay in Denmark rather than join the US.

Greenlandic organizations organized the demonstrations in Denmark in collaboration with the non-governmental organization ActionAid Denmark.

“We demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination,” stated Inuit chair Camilla Siezing of Denmark’s Joint Association of Greenlandic Local Associations.

Some 17,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark, according to Danish authorities.