Denmark’s prime minister said her country is willing to provide Greenland with more autonomy and investment as the Arctic island nation faces annexation offers from the U.S.

Joined by Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at a press conference Tuesday on Denmark’s Faroe Islands, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country looks forward to increased cooperation between the two nations. 

“We are willing to invest more in the development of the Greenlandic society,” she said. “This could be ports and it could be another type of critical infrastructure that has both a defense and military perspective, but which can also be used, for example, in relation to tourism or raw materials extraction.”

Ms. Frederiksen pointed to ongoing infrastructure business development programs that her country has launched in Greenland as evidence of the strength of the partnership. She also implied that Denmark would eventually give Greenland more control over its foreign policy. 

The Kingdom of Denmark colonized Greenland in the early 18th century and maintained total control over the island until 1979, when Greenland gained the right to elect a parliament to run its internal affairs. Greenlanders reserve the right to achieve complete independence from Denmark via a referendum, but domestic political parties remain divided on such a move. 

Ms. Frederiksen’s comments follow talk of the U.S. annexing Greenland to further American foreign policy interests. Since retaking the White House in January, President Trump has maintained that Greenland should come under U.S. control due to its strategic position in the North Atlantic. 

While Greenlanders remain somewhat divided on the path to independence, most agree that Greenland should govern its own affairs and have roundly rejected Mr. Trump’s idea. The issue of U.S. control became a key issue in the March parliamentary elections, and Mr. Nielsen’s party routinely attacked the president.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.