Denmark condemns alleged US spying in Greenland

On Friday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen denounced alleged U.S. spying in Greenland. The comments by came after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claimed that Washington wants to tighten its oversight in the Danish self-governing territory.

Tensions have been high between the United States and Denmark since the White House tenant repeatedly claimed that he wants to take control of Greenland, citing security reasons.

Frederiksen assured that his country's foreign minister has already talked to the United States about the issue.

"You cannot spy against an ally,” Mette Frederiksen said from Oslo, where she attended a meeting of the 10-nation Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which groups the United Kingdom and northern European countries.

U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, was summoned to the Danish ministry in the presence of a representative from the Government of Greenland.

"We cannot tolerate that we start spying on each other. This message was sent very clearly today," Lars Løkke Rasmussen, head of Danish diplomacy, told Danish television DR on Thursday.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland's prime minister, said—in remarks picked up by AFP—that the situation would be "unacceptable" and "disrespectful."

According to the WSJ, the intelligence agencies were instructed to find out more about Greenland's independence movement and its positions on U.S. exploitation of the island's resources.

According to the news outlet, they were also asked to identify individuals in Greenland and Denmark who support U.S. objectives in this Danish self-governing territory.