Thousands of people poured into the streets across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest recent US threats to take control of Greenland, chanting that the Arctic island “is not for sale” and belongs to its people.
Demonstrations were held in major Danish cities, including Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg, as well as in Greenlandic cities such as Nuuk, Aasiaat, Qaqortoq and Ilulissat, Danish broadcaster TV2 reported.
Organisers and local media described turnout as unusually large, making it difficult to estimate total participation nationwide.
Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR said more than 15,000 demonstrators gathered in Copenhagen alone, where protesters marched through the city center and toward the US Embassy, waving Greenlandic flags and denouncing any attempt to undermine the island’s sovereignty.
In Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, large crowds were also expected later in the day as residents mobilised to send a direct message to Washington.
Trump’s continued threats
The protests follow renewed statements by US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said the United States must “acquire” Greenland for national security reasons, citing its strategic location, vast mineral resources and concerns about Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic.
Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and both Copenhagen and Nuuk have firmly rejected any proposal to sell or transfer the island, stressing that its future can only be decided by Greenlanders themselves.
Saturday’s demonstrations marked one of the most visible public pushbacks yet against US rhetoric on Greenland, underscoring growing European unease over Washington’s ambitions in the Arctic.
