Denmark should focus on the fact that Greenlanders do not want to be a part of the country, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"Greenlanders are going to make a decision," Rubio told reporters at a press conference on Friday after meeting other NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
Incoming Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Friday that Rubio was not right.
"He is not right that Greenland wants to secede tomorrow,” Nielsen said.
“He is right that Greenland does not want to be Danish, but Greenland certainly doesn't want to be American either," Nielsen also added to TV2.
"We work every day to build a foundation so that we can stand on our own in the future, but we are not there yet. What he (Rubio) says doesn't hold water," Nielsen added.
For years, the people of Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, have been working toward eventual independence from Denmark, but has no interest in becoming part of the United States.
