Björk has issued a statement of solidarity with the people of Greenland, as Trump ramps up his threats to annex the Arctic island.

Posting on Instagram, the singer urged the people on Greenland to sever ties with Denmark, like her own country Iceland did back in 1944. Greenland – the largest island in the world, with a population of just 57,000 – has its own parliament and controls its internal affairs, but is still a territory of Denmark, which controls its foreign and defence policies.

“I wish all Greenlanders blessing in their fight for independence,” Björk wrote. “Colonialism has repeatedly given me horror chills up my back, and the chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel coloniser to another is too brutal to even imagine.”

While Björk made this statement in response to the threat of a US takeover, she reserved most of her criticism for Denmark; in particular, she singled out the policy of forced contraception it carried out between 1966 and 1970, when thousands of young girls in Greenland were implanted with IUDs without their knowledge or consent. “Still today the danish [sic] are treating greenlanders like they are second class humans”, she wrote, referring to recent instances of children in Greenland being removed from their parents and placed with adopted families in Denmark.

As Greenland now faces the possibility of being colonised once more by a larger and more powerful foreign state, here’s everything you need to know about why this is happening, how it’s connected to events in Venezuela, what people in Greenland think and how the international community has responded.

WHY DOES THE US WANT TO CONTROL GREENLAND?

Trump’s interest in Greenland is not new. In 2019, he offered to buy the Arctic territory, describing it as “essentially a large real estate deal”. Greenland’s value lies in two areas: its strategic location and its resources, which include rare earth minerals, uranium and iron. But Trump insists that Greenland is essential for its location, rather than its minerals, stating in 2019 that “if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland for national security reasons. Denmark will not be able to handle the task.” In the Arctic region, Greenland is becoming a focal point as commercial shipping routes between Asia, Europe and North America become viable as global warming melts the northern ice caps. When Trump first proposed this idea, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticised his plans, and he postponed his visit to the Nordic country.

After kidnapping Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, on Saturday, January 3, Trump stated that the US needs Greenland “very badly”. He has refused to rule out the use of the military to seize control of the former Danish colony.

HOW IS THIS CONNECTED TO VENEZEULA?

While Trump has wanted to get his greasy paws on Greenland for years, the threat feels more real than ever. Last Saturday US forces abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, killing approximately 80 people in the process, and imprisoning him in New York. According to Trump, the US will now run Venezuela and its oil industry. This operation shows that the US is entirely unrestrained by international law and is willing to use military force to meet its objectives, and Trump has since threatened Columbia, Iran, and Mexico. It seems that all bets are off now.

So it’s no coincidence that Trump is amping up his rhetoric around Greenland, and many of his supporters and associates have made the connection themselves: following the attack on Venezuela, Katie Miller, the wife of the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, tweeted a photo of Greenland with the US flag and the caption “soon”. The people of Greenland are right to be concerned.

HOW HAVE OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES RESPONDED TO THE THREATS?

Though Keir Starmer refused to condemn US military intervention in Venezuela, he insists that “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark must determine the future of Greenland and nobody else,” in a statement issued on Monday, January 5. The Swedish Prime Minister echoed the same sentiment, writing on X that “It is only Denmark and Greenland that have the right to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” and that Sweden “fully stands behind” Denmark. Several European countries have asserted that they stand with Denmark and Greenland, pledging their solidarity, but their statements omit any criticism of Trump and his administration.

WHAT DO PEOPLE IN GREENLAND THINK?

There is majority support in Greenland for independence from Denmark, but that doesn’t mean its population wants to swap one foreign power for another: an opinion poll published last year found that a staggering 85 per cent do not want to join the US, despite Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary. This week, Greenland’s PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen has slammed Trump. In a social media statement, he said: “Threats, pressure and talk of annexation have no place between friends. That is not how you speak to a people who have shown responsibility, stability and loyalty time and again. Enough is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”