Incoming Greenland PM says talk of annexing island is 'unacceptable'

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Greenland's incoming prime minister said that talk of annexing the semi-autonomous Danish island was unacceptable on Friday, after the U.S. Secretary of State said Denmark should focus on the fact that Greenlanders do not want to be a part of Denmark.

The comments follow months of tension between Washington on the one hand and Copenhagen and Nuuk on the other, over U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated declarations that the Arctic island should become part of the United States.

"We are human beings up here; we are not a piece of property that can be bought. Partnerships and cooperation can always be discussed, but talk of annexation is unacceptable," Greenland's incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told broadcaster TV2.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said earlier on Friday that Denmark should focus on the fact that Greenlanders do not want to be a part of Denmark. Greenland is currently a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

"Greenlanders are going to make a decision," Rubio told reporters at a press conference after meeting other NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

Nielsen rebuffed Rubio's comments.

"He is not right that Greenland wants to secede tomorrow. He is right that Greenland does not want to be Danish, but Greenland certainly doesn't want to be American either," Nielsen told 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 says doesn't hold water," he added.

Nielsen's new coalition is expected to formally take office on April 7.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Makini Brice, Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen; Writing by Gianluca Lo Nostro, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Alex Richardson)