Denmark summons US envoy over report of Greenland influence operations

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s foreign minister had the top U.S. diplomat in the country summoned for talks after the main national broadcaster reported Wednesday that at least three people with connections to President Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland .

Trump has repeatedly said he seeks U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland , a vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island.

Denmark, a NATO ally of the U.S., and Greenland have said the island is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. gathering intelligence there.

Danish public broadcaster DR reported Wednesday that government and security sources which it didn’t name, as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the U.S., believe that at least three Americans with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory.

One of those people allegedly compiled a list of U.S.-friendly Greenlanders, collected names of people opposed to Trump and got locals to point out cases that could be used to cast Denmark in a bad light in American media. Two others have tried to nurture contacts with politicians, businesspeople and locals, according to the report.

An influence operation is an organized effort to shape how people in a society think in order to achieve certain political, military or other objectives.

DR said its story was based on information from a total of eight sources, who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society.

DR said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working at their own initiative or on orders from someone else. It said it knows their names but chose not to publish them in order to protect its sources. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report.

“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement emailed by his ministry. “It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the Kingdom in the time ahead.”

“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom will of course be unacceptable,” Løkke Rasmussen said. “In that light, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the U.S. chargé d’affaires for a meeting at the Ministry.”

Cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland “is close and based on mutual trust,” he added.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service responded to a request for comment by saying it believes that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds” that could aim to create divisions in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.

It said it “assesses that this could be done by exploiting existing or fabricated disagreements, for example in connection with well-known individual cases, or by promoting or amplifying certain viewpoints in Greenland regarding the Kingdom, the United States, or other countries with a particular interest in Greenland.”

The service, known by its Danish acronym PET, said that in recent years it has “continuously strengthened” its efforts and presence in Greenland in cooperation with authorities there, and will continue to do so.

丹麦哥本哈根（美联社）——丹麦主要国家广播公司周三报道称，至少有三名与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普有关联的人在格陵兰岛进行秘密影响力行动后，丹麦外交大臣召见了美国驻丹麦最高外交官进行会谈。

特朗普曾多次表示，他寻求美国对格陵兰岛的管辖权。格陵兰岛是丹麦的一个幅员辽阔、半自治的领土。他并未排除动用武力控制这个矿产资源丰富、战略位置重要的北极岛屿的可能性。

作为美国北约盟国的丹麦和格陵兰岛均表示，该岛不出售，并谴责有关美国在该岛收集情报的报道。

丹麦公共广播公司 DR 周三报道称，一些未透露姓名的政府和安全部门消息人士，以及格陵兰岛和美国身份不明的消息人士认为，至少有三名与特朗普有关联的美国人一直在该地区进行秘密影响力行动。

据称，其中一人编制了一份亲美格陵兰人名单，收集了反对特朗普人士的姓名，并让当地人指出一些可能被用来在美国媒体上抹黑丹麦的案例。报告还指出，另外两人则试图与政界人士、商界人士和当地居民建立联系。

影响力行动是指有组织地影响社会成员的思维方式，以达到某些政治、军事或其他目的。

DR 表示，其报​​道基于总共八个消息来源的信息，这些消息来源认为，其目标是从格陵兰社会内部削弱与丹麦的关系。

DR表示，他们无法确定这些美国人是自愿行动还是奉命行事。DR称，他们知道这些人的姓名，但为了保护消息来源，选择不予公布。美联社无法独立核实该报道。

丹麦外交大臣拉斯·勒克·拉斯穆森在一份由其部门通过电子邮件发送的声明中表示：“我们注意到，外国势力持续对格陵兰及其在丹麦王国中的地位表现出浓厚的兴趣。因此，如果未来出现外部势力试图影响丹麦王国的未来，我们并不感到意外。”

“任何干涉王国内政的企图当然都是不可接受的，”勒克·拉斯穆森说。“鉴于此，我已经要求外交部召见美国驻沙特阿拉伯临时代办，在外交部举行会晤。”

他补充说，丹麦和格陵兰政府之间的合作“密切且建立在互信之上”。

美国驻哥本哈根大使馆尚未对此事作出回应。

丹麦安全情报局在回应置评请求时表示，他们认为“尤其是在当前形势下，格陵兰岛是各种影响力活动的目标”，这些活动可能旨在破坏丹麦和格陵兰岛之间的关系。

报告称，“评估认为，可以通过利用现有的或捏造的分歧来实现这一点，例如与著名的个案有关，或者通过在格陵兰岛宣传或放大某些关于王国、美国或对格陵兰岛有特殊利益的国家的观点来实现。”

该机构以其丹麦语缩写 PET 而闻名，该机构表示，近年来，它与格陵兰岛当局合作，不断加强在格陵兰岛的工作和存在，并将继续这样做。