US flag raised in Greenland
Photo: US flag (Getty Images)
An incident in Greenland has sparked a public reaction and attracted media attention. The event took place in the island’s capital during the filming of a foreign media project and later ended with an official apology, according to Minval.Politika.
In Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, an unidentified man attempted to raise a United States flag but was prevented from doing so.
According to Denmark’s broadcaster TV 2, citing local police, bystanders intervened and stopped the man before he could secure the flag. The situation was resolved without serious consequences.
Police response and circumstances
Police confirmed the incident and said the man’s actions did not escalate into a public order offense.
Officers noted that the intervention by passers-by played a key role in preventing the situation from developing further, and no additional measures were required at the scene.
Person behind attempt
It was later established that the person involved was German TV host and cabaret performer Maxi Schafroth. He works on the satirical programme extra 3, broadcast by Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
Representatives of the broadcaster confirmed that a satirical film was being shot in Nuuk and that the attempted flag-raising was part of a staged scene.
Broadcaster issues apology
Norddeutscher Rundfunk acknowledged responsibility for the incident.
The company said a member of the film crew had staged the attempt to raise the US flag without fully considering how local residents might react. NDR issued an apology to the people of Greenland for the situation caused during the filming.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine earlier reacted with irony to an appeal by Russia to the United Nations, in which Moscow referred to the so-called "self-determination" of temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine’s Donbas by drawing parallels with Greenland, calling such comparisons absurd.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also warned that the situation around Greenland could be viewed as a potential precedent for similar scenarios targeting Ukraine in the future, noting that such cases may create conditions for attempts to seize territory and later seek legal recognition of those actions.
