Press statement by President von der Leyen with Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen and Prime Minister Egede of Greenland

Press statement by the President in Nuuk

Thank you very much Prime Minister for welcoming us here in Nuuk. Mette, you have often told me that I have to come and see first-hand what this country is all about. And I must say you were so right. Of course, the landscapes are beautiful, but what is also striking is the warmth of the people here in the Great North. And I must say, from the very first moment, I felt like at home. And I think it is because we are so like-minded and, because Greenland has always been part of the European family. And it is on this that we are building our partnership.

It is in this spirit that I am very happy to inaugurate Europe's office here in Nuuk. And this office is of course much more than bricks and mortar. It is the beginning of a new era of our partnership with a very concrete presence of the European Union in Greenland and in the wider Arctic region. Prime Minister, this Europe house is your house too. The door is open. And with this office we can keep a constant dialogue, a constant contact between us and thus deepen our relationship, across the board.

There is a lot on our plate. You mentioned it, first of all, we are strengthening our cooperation on the green transition. We have just signed a cooperation agreement worth EUR 22 million on green growth And it has a focus on renewable. You told me that 70% of your national electricity supplies come from hydropower. And your potential is much higher than that. We discussed that with the right investments, Greenland can not only go climate neutral but even climate positive, and so you can turn into a clean energy hub exporting clean energy and thus develop strategic industries on this clean energy, mostly clean hydrogen, with potential for exports. And that is the topic where we want to be your partner. We discussed that Global Gateway might fund it. And we discussed that we should develop a very concrete roadmap with timelines and milestones to make sure that we deliver.

The second big focus of our discussion was on critical raw materials, the materials we all need to power the clean energy transition. And indeed, we have a critical raw materials partnership in place since last November. The funding agreement we have signed will allow us now to go forward. We have already identified good projects, across the whole value chain, so not only mining, but also, and that is very important, high value-added activities, like processing and refining. This is the goal here in Greenland because this attracts then new investments and creates good jobs here, in Greenland. For all of us it is very important that these mining activities are carried out in a sustainable manner, respectful of nature and the environment. And here too, we agreed that we have to be very concrete with a roadmap on how to proceed. Time is of the essence.

That brings me to the third topic: We have just signed an agreement of EUR 71 million on cooperation for education and skills. Because whether we look at renewable energy or mining, skills are needed, so the most precious investment we can do for the green growth is the one in people.

Finally, allow me a word on our shared region – the Arctic. You have shown us very impressively how climate change is affecting this vital space for humanity. The sea ice has almost halved over the last 40 years. In this context, I congratulate Greenland on taking major steps forward to fight climate change and on having taken the decision to join the Paris Agreement, to set your own emissions reduction goals. And here, Europe wants to team up with you to protect the Arctic.

With the ice melting, a new reality is emerging. States like Russia and China are increasingly assertive in the region. This is why like-minded democracies, like Greenland and Europe, must strengthen their political partnership. On this note, I really want to thank you for your very clear condemnation of Russia's aggression and the condemnation of its attack on a peaceful neighbour, Ukraine. I thank you for aligning with our sanctions. We both believe that the Arctic must remain a peaceful and safe space governed by multilateralism and the respect of international law. This is also central to the Ilulissat Declaration, that has been signed here in Greenland in 2008.

Thank you again for hosting me and for this great partnership. It is wonderful to be here.

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