NUUK, Greenland — Only Denmark and Greenland should determine the future of the Arctic territory, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday as she announced that the European Union is pledging 200 million euros ($232 million) in investments for the island.

Speaking after a two-day visit to Nuuk, the capital of the Danish autonomous territory, von der Leyen stressed: "Greenland's future is for the people of Greenland and Denmark to decide, no one else."

Her remarks come against the backdrop of renewed U.S. interest in the territory. President Donald Trump insisted earlier this year that Washington needed to control Greenland for national security reasons, though he ultimately ruled out annexing the island by force. Trump had also sought to purchase Greenland during his first term, an idea rejected by Danish authorities.

Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark with a population of roughly 57,000, holds strategic significance in the Arctic and possesses substantial deposits of rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials. Those resources have drawn growing attention as the EU works through its Critical Raw Materials Act — adopted in 2024 — to diversify supply chains away from dominant single-source producers such as China, which processes the large majority of the world's rare earth output.

"Territorial integrity, sovereignty, the inviolability of borders — these are fundamental principles of international law," von der Leyen told a press conference held alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's head of government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. For Greenland, whose economy relies heavily on fishing and annual subsidies from Copenhagen, the EU's investment pledge represents a notable expansion of a relationship that already ties the territory to the bloc through Denmark's membership, under which Greenland is one of the EU's overseas countries and territories.

The three leaders also visited the satellite company Eutelsat Oneweb in Nuuk on Monday (local time), according to AP-Yonhap.

The EU chief additionally unveiled the "EU-Greenland Partnership Package," centered on three strategic priorities: connectivity, clean energy, and critical raw materials.

"This is 200 million euros of new investments for Greenland for this year and the next," von der Leyen said.

The new package, which comes on top of a doubling of direct EU aid to Greenland, is intended to support the development of concrete projects. These include improving the island's satellite capabilities, which would allow better internet access in the northern and eastern parts of the territory — a long-standing challenge in a territory where remote settlements have historically had limited connectivity.

Source: The Korea Times