Greenland lawmakers consider ban on foreign donations to parties in face of Trump's ambitions

Greenland lawmakers consider ban on foreign donations to parties in face of Trump's ambitions

Greenland's legislature debated Tuesday whether to prohibit political parties from receiving contributions “from foreign or anonymous contributors” after President Donald Trump laid out ambitions for the United States to take over the vast island that belongs to Denmark.

Inatsisartut, Greenland's parliament, discussed the proposal that would also ban any single party from receiving domestic private contributions that exceed 200,000 Danish kroner (about $27,700) in total, or 20,000 kroner (about $2,770) for a single contributor.

The government of Greenland asked the parliament's five-member presidency to consider a bill aimed to "protect Greenland's political integrity” that would take effect immediately.

The bill “must be seen in light of the geopolitical interests in Greenland and the current situation where representatives of an allied great power have expressed interest in taking over and controlling Greenland,” according to a translation of a parliamentary document in Danish outlining the measure.

The move comes ahead of parliamentary elections that must be held no later than April in Greenland.

Kent Fridberg, a senior legal officer at parliament, said he did not know whether any such foreign donors had already contributed to Greenland's political parties and the idea for the bill was “basically a preventative measure”.

Speaking by phone to The Associated Press, Fridberg noted Trump's expressed interest in Greenland — and said some Russian politicians had voiced a similar interest — and that parties on the island are generally funded by public means.

Before taking office for his second term on Jan 20, Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared US control of both to be vital to American national security.

The US president reiterated his ambitions on the issue in comments to reporters last week. His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, visited the mineral-rich territory that's home to a large US military base early last month and told citizens: “We're going to treat you well.”