Representatives Blake Moore of Utah and Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who serve as Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, have issued a joint statement addressing recent discussions about Greenland and Denmark.
Their statement warns against rhetoric suggesting the annexation of Greenland, emphasizing the risks such talk poses to international alliances. “Sabre-rattling about annexing Greenland is needlessly dangerous. The Kingdom of Denmark is a NATO ally and one of America’s closest partners. An attack on Greenland – a crucial part of that alliance – would tragically be an attack on NATO,” they said.
The representatives highlighted Denmark’s ongoing cooperation with the United States in the Arctic region. “Denmark recognizes how important Greenland is to our mutual security in the Arctic region. They have moved in lockstep with the United States in Greenland for decades, accepting every request to increase our military presence on the island, and are spending 3.3% of GDP on defense to help us deter Russia and China in the region,” according to their statement.
They also noted that current arrangements already allow for U.S. access and military deployment in Greenland: “If the message is that ‘we need Greenland,’ the truth is that we already have access to everything we could need from Greenland. If we want to deploy more forces or build additional missile defense infrastructure in Greenland, Denmark has given us a green light to do so. Our ally has always accommodated us. Threatening to annex Greenland needlessly undermines that cooperation for no gain.”
The statement concluded by expressing concern over potential discord within NATO: “Russia, China, and other authoritarian regimes around the world are yearning for conquest. The last thing America needs is a civil war among NATO that endangers our security and our way of life.”
Blake Moore currently represents Utah’s 1st district in Congress after succeeding Rob Bishop in 2021 (https://moore.house.gov/about). He was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1980 and resides in Salt Lake City.
Moore graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2005.
