Statement by President von der Leyen at the signing of the EU-Greenland Joint Declaration

Premier Nielsen, dear Jens-Frederik,

Prime Minister Frederiksen, dear Mette,

I also want to thank you for the excellent cooperation and the outstanding hospitality we have experienced over the last 48 hours. Indeed, as you said, I came here for the first time in 2024, two years ago. And I remember that at that time, the message I was given was very clear. Do not let this visit be symbolic and a one-off, make it substantive and deliver real results. And I am happy to say today I am back to deliver, together with you, concrete results. Results that follow two years of intensive work and close cooperation, and now we are ready to implement. And if we look at them, at what happens today, basically we have three big topics. We signed, as you just witnessed, the Joint Declaration. We issued the EU-Greenland Partnership Package of EUR 200 million for this year and next year. And we discussed the first deliverables of our partnership package, which are ready to go now, ready in the pipeline.

Let me shed a light on all three, and I want to start with the Joint Declaration. I think it reflects a clear choice expressed by Greenland to strengthen the ties with the European Union, in line with your values, your freedom and your interests. But let me tell you, it also shows a very strong interest of Europe to having made a choice too, the choice to be more present and to be more engaged in Greenland and in the Arctic. And therefore, the Declaration kind of deepens cooperation across the board. Just to name a few: It is about opportunities for young people, a better connected country, prepare for crisis – as you said, Jens-Frederik –, strengthen civil protection, fight climate change – as we could see, it is progressing here too. We saw it firsthand yesterday.

The second spotlight I want to shed is on the EU-Greenland Partnership Package. Indeed, it is EUR 200 million of new investments for Greenland this year and next year. And this Partnership Package focuses mainly on three domains or strategic priorities. We call them the big C's: connectivity, clean energy, critical raw materials.

If you look at connectivity, Greenland needs, like everybody, reliable connections with the country, with the European Union and towards the world. And this is exactly what we discussed today at Tusass, it was impressive to be there. And we signed also a project that will boost satellite capacities in the country. And what I really like about this project is that the result will be felt as of tomorrow, by communities in the Northern part of Greenland that will have better access and faster access as of tomorrow to the Internet. And by October, so we need another month, remote communities in East Greenland also will have better and faster access to the Internet, thanks to this project we just inaugurated today.

My second point is on clean energy. Greenland has untapped potential in hydropower. You are good at that already, but you still can be better. So our Partnership Package supports new hydropower plants in Greenland. The goal is to strengthen your energy security with homegrown energy supply, which gives you more independence, and also to develop strategic clean industries like, for example, renewable hydrogen that you might be interested in.

The third point is, of course, on critical raw materials. Everybody knows that Greenland has vast resources. And we agreed that they should be used to create value, jobs and growth here in the country. So it is with that mindset that we are working on two big projects. The first Malmbjerg Molybdenum mining project. This one could become one of Greenland's largest ventures, and it could, if we get it right and done, generate up to EUR 90 million a year for the country as added value. And we are also financing the preparations of GreenRoc's Amitsoq graphite project, also a very important project in the field of the critical raw materials.

These were three examples, but it is just the beginning. We also discussed that, in our next budget, we have proposed to move to more than double EU funding for Greenland until 2034, to EUR 530 million in the next budget. We want our partnership to be built for the long term, and this symbolizes also this focus on the next budget to be a reliable partner.

And this brings me perhaps to the most important point, and that is people. We will also work together to improve the quality of life. Take housing, we discussed that we can, together with you, renovate or build new homes. We will also support local businesses, especially in the tourism sector, for tourism that respects the environment and your community, so what we call sustainable tourism. There is a big interest in here. We have to get it done in the right way and see us as a partner for these projects in the pipeline. But the best investment possible is the one in Greenland's youth. And Greenland indeed is taking part in Erasmus+, so for young Greenlanders to have the opportunity to travel, to study, to develop skills, come back here and build a bright future with their expertise that they won over time in Erasmus+. This is why we want to step up Greenland's participation in Erasmus+ and raise awareness among young Greenlanders that this opportunity exists for them.

My last point is about our broader shared region, the Arctic. The European Union stands in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. We will continue to do so. And we want to be very clear and repeat again here that Greenland's future is for the people of Greenland and Denmark to decide, no one else. Territorial integrity, sovereignty, the inviolability of borders – these are fundamental principles of international law. And we know that the Arctic has become one of the places where the tectonic plates of geopolitics collide. So we have a direct stake in what happens here, that is why we are preparing a new EU Arctic Strategy to be presented this autumn. It will set out our vision for the Arctic and for a stronger partnership with Europe's northern neighbourhood.

Dear Jens-Frederik,

Dear Mette,

Greenland is much more than a partner for Europe. You are a trusted friend, you are a strategic ally and a Member of our wider European family. We share a future together and it all starts today.

Qujanaq. Thank you.