(AFP) – Denmark on Sunday rejected a US claim that Greenland needs healthcare help, on the same day its forces evacuated a US sailor from a submarine off the coast of the Arctic island for medical treatment. A day earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory that he covets.
But Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR: “The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark.” He added: “It’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.”
In Greenland, as in Denmark, access to healthcare is free. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving patients from all over the territory. Without explicitly mentioning the US proposal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was “happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for all. Where insurance or wealth does not determine whether one receives dignified treatment.”
Separately, early on Saturday, Denmark’s Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.
– AI-generated hospital ship –
Trump, in his Truth Social message on Saturday proposing a hospital ship, posted an AI-generated image of a US Navy medical vessel, USNS Mercy. It was not immediately clear if that meant he was deploying that ship to Greenland. “We are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there,” Trump wrote. “It’s on the way!!!” he added. The US president indicated the deployment was being carried out in coordination with Jeff Landry, appointed in December as the US Special Envoy to the Arctic island.
Greenland already has five regional hospitals, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving the whole territory, whose population is 57,000. Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish Parliament, wrote on Facebook that while Greenland’s health system had its share of problems, they were best resolved through cooperation with Denmark — “which is one of the wealthiest and most educated countries, for example in the field of healthcare. Not with the United States, which has its own healthcare system problems.”
Trump has repeatedly said he believes the United States must control Greenland to ensure US national security. Earlier threats he made to seize the territory, by force if necessary, have ebbed since he struck a “framework” deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence. The defence minister, Lund Poulsen, told DR he was not aware of a possible arrival of the suggested US hospital ship. “Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
