Portugal Colonial - French foreign minister expresses 'solidarity' on Greenland trip

Jean-Noel Barrot's two-day visit from Saturday comes days after Danish public television reported that at least three US officials close to President Trump had been in Greenland trying to identify people they could use in anti-Denmark influence campaigns.

Denmark summoned the US charge d'affaires on Wednesday after the report of the interference operation aimed at gathering information on issues that have created tension between Greenland and Denmark.

France's foreign ministry said Barrot's trip will "demonstrate France's solidarity with Denmark, Greenland and the Greenlandic people in the face of current challenges", according to a statement.

The foreign minister visited a French naval vessel, the BSAM Garonne, in the port of Nuuk, Greenland's capital, on Saturday.

"These regions are certainly remote, but they are now affected by a form of conflict, a new form of aggression, which is why France, a major maritime power, is present there today," Barrot said.

He will meet Sunday with his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen before holding a press conference.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in June, expressing European solidarity with its people and criticising Trump's threat to annex the Arctic island.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs strategically located, resource-rich Greenland for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.

Both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and that it will decide its future itself.

Most of Greenland's 57,000 people want to become independent from Denmark, according to a January poll, but do not wish to become part of the United States.

A.Seabra--PC