ANKARA/ISTANBUL

Denmark said on Wednesday that it will summon one of its envoys in the US over claims that American intelligence agencies have been directed to increase spying operations in Greenland.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen discussed the allegations against the US while attending an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Poland, according to Danish media reports.

Rasmussen described the claims that "US intelligence agencies will increase espionage activities in Greenland" as worrying but said Denmark will consult with its charge d'affaires in the US, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, at the Danish Foreign Ministry to figure out more.

Allegations of increased US intelligence activity in Greenland

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has decided to expand its intelligence operations in Greenland and instructed its agencies to play a more active role in the region.

Some observers have linked the move to US President Donald Trump's interest in acquiring Greenland, a proposal he floated both before and shortly after taking office.

From the early days of his presidency, Trump made public remarks about buying, annexing, or otherwise gaining control of the autonomous Danish territory.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security," Trump said during his address to a joint session of Congress in March.

"We’re working with everybody involved to try and get it, but we need it really for international world security, and I think we’re going to get it one way or the other; we’re going to get it," Trump said.