US officials may face ban from Denmark's July 4 event over Greenland threats

Denmark’s northern municipality of Aalborg has set a condition for funding the annual July 4 event celebrating US independence, requiring the exclusion of American officials as long as Washington’s threats toward Greenland persist, public broadcaster DR reported.

Aalborg Municipality told local media on Wednesday it would withdraw its support for the Rebild Festival if tensions over Denmark’s autonomous region Greenland continue. President Donald Trump has said the island will be taken over by the US for national security reasons.

The municipality agreed to continue its support on the condition that US officials are no longer allowed to take part in the programme, which has usually included representatives from the US Embassy and military personnel.

"We continue to want to mark our friendship with the United States, but we will not condone the current American government's actions towards the Kingdom of Denmark," Mayor of Aalborg Lasse Frimand Jensen told the Nordjyske newspaper.

Jensen said it would not be appropriate to have a US military orchestra perform at a Danish celebration at a time when Washington is openly expressing its intention to take over Greenland.

Rebildselskabet, Danish-American friendship association behind the event held in Rebild municipality, will convene next week to discuss the situation.

Both located in Denmark’s North Jutland region, Aalborg and Rebild municipalities respectively fund 300,000 kroner ($29,700) and 100,000 kroner (about $9,900) for the event.

A day after the US military raid in Venezuela that abducted President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, Trump renewed his call for a takeover of Greenland in the interest of "national security."

“We need Greenland, from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said.

Greenland has repeatedly rejected proposals suggesting any transfer of sovereignty to the US.