COPENHAGEN, JAN 17: Large demonstrations are planned across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest against US President Donald Trump’s designs to take over the Arctic island.

 Thousands of people have indicated on social media that they intend to take part in marches and rallies organised by Greenlandic associations in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and the Greenlandic capital Nuuk.

“The aim is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights,” Uagut, an association of Greenlanders in Denmark, said on its website.

The protests follow Trump’s warning on Friday that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose his plans to take over Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

The demonstration in Nuuk is scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), to protest “against the United States’ illegal plans to take control of Greenland”, organisers said. Demonstrators would march to the US consulate carrying Greenlandic flags.

The Copenhagen rally was due to begin at 12:00 pm (1100 GMT), and make a stop outside the US embassy in the Danish capital around an hour later.

“Recent events have put Greenland and Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark under pressure,” Uagut chairwoman Julie Rademacher said in a statement sent to AFP, calling for “unity”.

  “When tensions rise and people go into a state of alarm, we risk creating more problems than solutions for ourselves and for each other. We appeal to Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark to stand together,” she said.

– ‘Demand respect’ –

The protests come as a bipartisan delegation of US Congress members visited Copenhagen on a two-day trip to give backing to Denmark and Greenland, saying the US president’s territorial ambitions were not shared by the American people.

Europeans have also been showing support for Greenland in a military reconnaissance mission that a Danish general said Washington was invited to.

Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News on Friday that “positive early talks” had taken place at a White House meeting between senior officials from the United States, Denmark and Greenland this week.

But he reiterated that Trump had been “clear” that he wanted the United States to control the island.