Naaja H. Nathanielsen calls the agreement news hoped for and says any deal must uphold Greenland's self-determination
Naaja H. NathanielsenMember of the Danish Folketing for Inuit Ataqatigiit (Greenland) and chair of the Folketing's Greenland Committee, on her Facebook politician page
In a Facebook post on the evening of September 18, 2026, written in Greenlandic and Danish, Folketing member Naaja H. Nathanielsen called the agreement news that people in Greenland had hoped would come, said any agreement must uphold Greenland's right to self-determination, and said she is cheering for the Greenland government (Naalakkersuisut) to get the agreement over the finish line. She shared a post by Greenland's foreign minister, Múte B. Egede, which Sermitsiaq describes as saying an agreement was within reach. The quotation is an English translation of the Danish text of the post.
“News we have all hoped would come. It is crucially important that any agreement upholds our right to self-determination. Cheering for Naalakkersuisut to get the agreement over the finish line”
Original post
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Other statements by Naaja H. Nathanielsen in this case
Every statement by Naaja H. Nathanielsen
Where this statement fits
Trump’s “permanent control” description of the announced U.S.-Denmark-Greenland security agreement
On September 18, 2026, President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that he said gives the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” Danish and Greenlandic officials initially described an expected agreement and emphasized sovereignty and self-determination. On September 22, the White House published an agreement text dated that day. It reaffirms Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination; provides for U.S. defense areas and access under stated procedures; bars non-NATO states from establishing military installations unless the parties agree otherwise; and has no end date. The text says it enters into force only after diplomatic notice of necessary parliamentary procedures. The dispute remains over how Trump’s “permanent control” description compares with the document’s terms.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Her own post on her Facebook politician page. The post is bilingual: a Greenlandic text comes first ('Nutaarsiassaq tamatta tusassallugu neriuutigisimasarput. Pingaaruteqarluinnarpoq isumaqatigiissutaasinnaasup nammineq aalajangiisinnaatitaanerput attatiinnassagaa ...'), then after '//' the Danish text quoted here. Danish original: 'En nyhed vi alle har håbet på ville komme. Det er afgørende vigtigt at en eventuel aftale fastholder vores ret til selvbestemmelse. Hepper på at Naalakkersuisut vil få aftalen hen over målstregen' (no final period in the post), followed by 'God lørdag til jer' and the hashtags #Kalaallitnunaat #Greenland #Grønland. The English quotation is a translation of the Danish; the Greenlandic version was not independently translated. The post embeds a shared post by Múte Bourup Egede. The post's timestamp is shown on hover.
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About this source
Danish-language news item that quotes all three Danish sentences word for word, says she reacted 'i går aftes' (last night) on Facebook and that she shared Múte B. Egede's post, in which he writes that an agreement is within reach.
Reporting
About this source
First published 2026-09-18 22:09 UTC; the current version, updated 2026-09-19 11:36 UTC, carries this quotation, which post-dates the first publication (her post was 22:44 UTC). BBC's English is '[It's] news we have all been hoping for' and 'It is absolutely crucial that any agreement preserves our right to self-determination'; it omits the third sentence. It also states the agreement text has not been published.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Earlier that evening, President Trump announced on Truth Social a U.S.-Denmark-Greenland security agreement, and the Danish Prime Minister's Office and Greenland's government issued a joint release describing an expected agreement. Nathanielsen shared a post by Greenland's foreign minister, Múte B. Egede, about the prospect of an agreement.
After the quotation
Sermitsiaq and the BBC reported her post on September 19. That day the agreement's text remained unpublished, and signing was expected at the UN General Assembly the following week.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Nathanielsen does not address that wording; she welcomes the news and says she is cheering for the Greenland government to conclude an agreement, while making her support depend on the express condition that any agreement upholds Greenland's right to self-determination. The closest competing label is “Defended or excused”, because she cheers on the agreement. That loses because what she backs is the Greenland government reaching an agreement that preserves self-determination, not the deal as Trump and Rubio describe it.
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The Dispute Index. "Naaja H. Nathanielsen calls the agreement news hoped for and says any deal must uphold Greenland's self-determination". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1212-in-a-facebook-post-on-the-evening-of