Statement by President von der Leyen at the signing of the EU-Greenland Joint Declaration

… <p>Let me shed a light on all three, and I want to start with the Joint Declaration. I think it reflects a clear choice expressed by Greenland to strengthen the ties with the European Union, in line with your values, your freedom and your interests. But let me tell you, it also shows a very strong interest of Europe to having made a choice too, the choice to be more present and to be more engaged in Greenland and in the Arctic. And therefore, the Declaration kind of deepens cooperation across the board. Just to name a few: It is about opportunities for young people, a better connected country, prepare for crisis – as you said, Jens-Frederik –, strengthen civil protection, fight climate change – as we could see, it is progressing here too. We saw it firsthand yesterday.</p> <p>The second spotlight I want to shed is on the EU-Greenland Partnership Package. Indeed, it is EUR 200 million of new investments for Greenland this year and next year. And this Partnership Package focuses mainly on three domains or strategic priorities. We call them the big C's: connectivity, clean energy, critical raw materials.</p> <p>If you look at connectivity, Greenland needs, like everybody, reliable connections with the country, with the European Union and towards the world. And this is exactly what we discussed today at Tusass, it was impressive to be there. And we signed also a project that will boost satellite capacities in the country. And what I really like about this project is that the result will be felt as of tomorrow, by communities in the Northern part of Greenland that will have better access and faster access as of tomorrow to the Internet. And by October, so we need another month, remote communities in East Greenland also will have better and faster access to the Internet, thanks to this project we just inaugurated today.</p> …