COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP)— Denmark’s prime minister said on Thursday that Copenhagen would not give up Greenland, as she visited the resource-rich autonomous Danish region that US President Donald Trump has vowed to take over.

Speaking in English and addressing the US, Mette Frederiksen said “you cannot annex another country.”

Tensions between the United States and Denmark have soared after Trump repeatedly said he wanted to take control of the resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons.

Frederiksen arrived in Greenland on Wednesday for a three-day visit, aiming to show support and unity in the face of US threats.

She rode around the capital Nuuk in a Danish navy patrol boat, alongside Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen and his predecessor Mute Egede.

Danish public broadcaster DR said many people cheered at seeing Frederiksen, with one resident shouting from a window: “Hey Mette! Thanks for being here.”

“It is clear that with the pressure put on Greenland by the Americans, in terms of sovereignty, borders and the future, we need to stay united,” Frederiksen said after arriving on the island on Wednesday.

Her visit comes on the heels of a trip by US Vice President JD Vance last week that both Nuuk and Copenhagen viewed as a provocation.

During his visit last week to the Pituffik military base, Vance castigated Denmark for not having “done a good job by the people of Greenland,” by allegedly neglecting security.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen responded on social media that “We are open to criticisms, but let me be completely honest, we do not appreciate the tone in which it’s being delivered.”

On Thursday, Vance again criticised Denmark, repeating the accusation that it had “underinvested in the infrastructure and security” of Greenland.

“I think they want to be independent from Denmark, and then once they do that, we can have a conversation about the relationship we’ll have with the United States and Greenland,” he told conservative cable news channel Newsmax.

– ‘Strong’ ties –
Frederiksen’s visit also follows the formation of a new Greenland coalition government led by the centre-right Democrats party, which won a general election in March.

Observers say her visit will reassure the island of 57,000 people, the vast majority of whom, polls show, want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the United States.

“I think it’s very, very important and it’s very reassuring for Greenlanders to see a Danish head of government,” Mikaela Engell, an expert on the Arctic territory who previously served as Denmark’s High Commissioner to Greenland, told AFP.

Earlier this year, “the Danish government was almost invisible,” she said, describing Copenhagen’s efforts as tip-toeing, trying to accommodate US interests and not antagonise Trump.

But after the general election and Vance’s visit, the “gloves have come off,” Engell said.