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The mayor of Greenland’s capital on Thursday called on media professionals and content creators to act responsibly after a failed attempt by a German comedian to raise the American flag.
Bavarian comedian Maxi Schafroth, 41, tried to place an American flag on a flagpole near Nuuk’s cultural center but was met with angry passersby.
When questioned, he claimed to be a US official before receiving disapproving looks from locals, according to an AFP reporter who was at the scene.
According to local media, the man was reported to the police and fined.
Avalak Olsen, the mayor of Selmersouk, whose district includes the capital, sat down and was furious.
“It is no joke to raise the flag of a military power that has been threatening to use force against our country for weeks at the Capital Cultural Center,” he said in a statement.
“It’s not funny. It’s very harmful.”
Olsen said Greenlanders, especially children, are worried and afraid of the current situation.
“When you feed the fear of content, clicks, and laughs, you’re not being bold or creative,” she says.
“You’re adding to the suffering of already vulnerable people… So pause for a moment before you film. Think before you stage something ‘funny.'” Think about whether your next question or stunt will inform the world, or whether it will just make a child cry or make a family back home feel safer. ”
Schafroth is known in Germany for his participation in the satirical show “Extra Dry”, which was broadcast on the local NDR channel and attracted more than 1 million viewers.
In a statement to Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper and the Ritzau agency, the agency expressed “regret” following the incident.
Greenland’s government is working to alleviate stress and anxiety among its population caused by US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the Arctic territory.
President Trump’s longstanding territorial plans for Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have sparked the most serious crisis in NATO’s history since its founding in 1949.
The US president has said that possession of Greenland is critical to US national security and claimed, without providing evidence, that if the US did not seize control of the territory, Russia or China would do so.
He later withdrew his threat to use force to acquire Greenland and began talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Additional sources of information • AFP