COPENHAGEN, March 13 (Reuters) – Greenland’s Siumut party has withdrawn from the coalition government, the prime minister said on Friday, weakening efforts to present a united front against U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign to take control of the Arctic island.
The departure follows Siumut chair Aleqa Hammond’s warning that the party would leave after two Greenlandic ministers announced candidacies for Denmark’s March 24 parliamentary election without prior leave.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen expressed disappointment but said his government would carry on, emphasising the importance of governance during heightened global scrutiny.
“I think it’s terribly bad timing and I’m very frustrated and disappointed that it’s happening at a time when we should be standing together,” he told reporters.
“Anything that might look like division in our country is grist to the mill for foreigners and we should avoid that at all cost,” he said.
The broad coalition had been a cornerstone of Nielsen’s strategy to respond to what he has termed Greenland’s most serious time in recent history.
Siumut’s departure means that Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, who has played a key role in diplomatic talks with the United States, is leaving her post, according to broadcaster KNR.
The loss of Siumut’s support, which holds four seats in Greenland’s 31-seat Inatsisartut assembly, does not threaten the government’s majority, as Nielsen’s coalition retains control with its remaining 19 seats.
Greenland will elect two members to Denmark’s parliament later this month.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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