Fans Show Support for Greenland at Winter Olympics Hockey Match

Milan—Latvian supporters Vita Kalniņa and Alexander Kalniņš turned a routine preliminary-round men’s hockey game between the United States and Denmark into a quiet political statement Saturday, raising a Greenlandic flag inside the arena in a show of European solidarity with the Arctic territory.

The couple, Latvian fans who now live in Germany, unfurled the red-and-white Nordic cross during warm-ups and again when Denmark opened the scoring. “For us as Europeans it was important to show up with this symbol as a symbol of European unity that we support Greenland,” Kalniņš told The Associated Press.

The gesture comes amid heightened attention on Greenland after recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump about potentially taking control of the semiautonomous Danish territory. The flag display quickly drew notice: arena staff, citing safety concerns, asked the pair to put the banner away. “He said it was due to safety reasons, because there could be American aggressive people,” Kalniņš recounted. The couple complied but noted television cameras had already captured the moment.

Greenland does not field its own Olympic team; its athletes, including biathlon siblings Ukaleq and Sondre Slettemark, compete for Denmark. Olympic venue guidelines technically permit only flags of participating countries and territories, leaving the Greenlandic flag’s status ambiguous.

Kalniņa and Kalniņš said their message was simple: Greenlanders should know Europe stands with them, whether they remain part of Denmark or pursue full independence. “It’s not OK that Trump and America are this aggressive and try to incorporate the island into their country,” Kalniņš added.

Inside the boards, players insisted politics never intruded. “We didn’t even mention it,” Danish captain Jesper Jensen Aabo said. “We just wanted to win a hockey game against a world-class team.” Jensen Aabo added he never spotted the flag but appreciated the thought: “Hopefully they supported us.”

Spectators on both sides echoed the sentiment that sport should rise above geopolitical tension. “It doesn’t matter whatever sport it is…it has nothing to do with politics,” Danish fan Dennis Petersen said. American supporter Rem de Rohan agreed: “This is the time for people to put that down and compete country versus country and enjoy.”

The United States-Denmark contest ended as a straightforward hockey showdown, yet the brief appearance of the Greenlandic flag offered a reminder that even inside an Olympic arena, world affairs can slip past the boards.