Greenland’s Welsh namesake shows solidarity with the threatened small nation

Martin Shipton

A community in west Wales is in a unique position when it comes to showing solidarity with Greenland, which has been threatened with invasion by Donald Trump.

The X account Abolish Westminster has published a picture taken at a village that bears the same name as the largest island in the north Atlantic.

The picture – which depicts a theodolite topped with a hat displaying the message “Trump! Hands Off “ is adjacent to a road sign reading Ynyslas.

The caption reads: “The Welsh name for Greenland is Yr Ynys Las.

“There’s also a village in Wales called Ynyslas, near Aberystwyth.

“The people of Ceredigion clearly have a very good sense of humour!

“But on a serious note, Trump is one of the worst humans ever to hold power. Absolutely vile.

“Solidarity with the people of Greenland from Wales.”

Sir Keir Starmer “set out his position on Greenland” in a phone call with Donald Trump on Wednesday evening.

US officials have suggested America could use “military means” to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory, which Mr Trump claims is vital for national security.

Downing Street did not provide further details of Sir Keir’s comments during the call.

But the Prime Minister has repeatedly said the territory’s future must be a matter for Greenland and Denmark alone, including in the Commons earlier on Wednesday.

The row over Greenland has cast a shadow over relations between the US and Europe, with Denmark’s prime minister warning that a US takeover would spell the end of the Nato alliance.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio had earlier said Mr Trump was examining how to “acquire Greenland”, suggesting the US could offer to buy the territory but adding it “retains the option” to use force.

But writing in the Spectator, Lord Peter Mandelson, who was sacked as ambassador to the US last year over his connections with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, accused European nations of engaging in “histrionics about Greenland” due to their “growing geopolitical impotence”.

Arguing that Mr Trump was not going to “invade” Greenland, he dismissed concerns about sovereignty and Nato’s future as “performative” and called for a “considerably beefed-up role” for America in the territory to counteract threats from Russia and China.

Many however remain concerned about what the erratic President may do next.