'I'm telling everyone to keep calm but I also understand they're afraid'

THE mayor of Greenland’s capital city is dreading the day American warships appear on the horizon.

- FROM MARK McGIVERN in Nuuk, Greenland

Avaaraq Olsen said it was clear the fear felt among the 20,000-strong Nuuk community was growing daily.

But while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to allay fears by coordinating a Nato response to the crisis, Ms Olsen indicated that Greenlanders should have been consulted.

Of the plan, attempting to reassure the US about Greenland's safety by sending Nato troops there, she said: “Denmark or others make plans and announcements about Greenland — but they talk about us without us.

“So if Keir Starmer wants to plan anything like that, he should definitely include the inhabitants of Greenland.”

Speaking in her office in Nuuk’s Civic Hall, Ms Olsen points to the fjord that is visible from the window and says: “Yesterday I needed to take a walk on the path we have on our coast line.

“It was getting dark, and then a boat came and it was dark and it had no lights on. And suddenly I was wondering, will they [the US] come without the light?

“And even though I’ve been the one who's telling everyone to keep calm, I also understand that people are afraid.

“I really understand why people are looking towards the sky and the ocean for what might come.”