Germany and France have warned Donald Trump against any attempt to “move borders by force” after the US president-elect said he was willing to use tariffs or military power to take control of Greenland, administered by Denmark.
In a televised statement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Trump’s statements had generated “incomprehension” among European leaders. “The principle of the inviolability of borders applies to all countries, regardless of whether they are to the east or west, and all States must respect it, regardless of whether it is a small country or a very powerful State.”
Previously, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, stated that Europe would stand up in defense of international law: “The EU does not allow other nations of the world, whoever they are, to attack its sovereign borders.”
Barrot added on France Inter radio that, although he did not believe that the United States would “invade” Greenland, it has “entered an era in which the law of the strongest is returning.”
Denmark, for its part, has said it is open to dialogue with Trump about the possibility of working together to address its legitimate security concerns regarding Greenland, while rejecting any threat of force or coercion.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish Foreign Minister, has said that it is in everyone’s interest to lower the temperature of the talks: “I have experience with Donald Trump, and I also know that not everything you think should be said out loud,” he said. . He also downplayed the possibility of Greenland becoming part of the United States, adding: “We fully recognize that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they materialize, Greenland will be independent, although hardly with the intention of becoming a federal state of the United States.”
Denmark is caught in a double bind, facing Trump’s increasingly serious threats to seize the island for US geostrategic reasons, but also the growing demands of the Greenlandic political class for full independence from Denmark.
The Prime Minister of Greenland, Múte B Egede, held talks with the Danish king in Copenhagen this Wednesday, a day after Trump’s statements put the fate of the mineral-rich and strategically important island in the spotlight.
In his New Year’s speech, Egede stated that Greenland was ready to take the next big step in its effort to break the “shackles of colonialism.” A self-government law has already been approved, paving the way for a referendum on independence. Local elections will be held in April that could become a test of opinion on Greenland’s constitutional future.
The son of President-elect Donald Trump Jr. flew briefly to Greenland on Tuesday on a trip that coincided with his father’s call for the United States to manage the island, and returned trying to stoke spirits for it to be sold to Washington: ” These are people who feel that they have been exploited. They have not received fair treatment from Denmark. They are prevented from exploiting their natural resources, whether coal, uranium, rare earths, gold or diamonds. “It’s really a great place.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that she could not imagine Trump’s ambitions would lead to US military intervention in Greenland. In 2019 he had described Trump’s demand to put Greenland up for sale as “absurd.” Since then there has been a collective decision by the Danish Government to try to calm things down.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, but is now an autonomous territory of Denmark and in 2009 gained the right to claim independence through a referendum.
Danish politicians hope a confrontation can be avoided by a meeting between senior officials from Denmark and the United States to discuss any necessary updates to the numerous security agreements signed by both countries after World War II.
The United States has a military base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base (former Thule Base), first established in 1941. It provides critical early warning systems to monitor Russian activity. Other bases were abandoned in the 1970s, but with the melting of ice around Greenland, the possibility of new trade routes has transformed the importance of the Arctic.
In Berlin, Scholz stated that Russia’s “brutal war of aggression” against Ukraine had led Germany, as the EU’s largest economy, to sharply increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, which means that more that doubled in the last seven years. He noted that his country had worked closely with the United States to protect Ukraine’s national “sovereignty and integrity.” “Borders should not be moved by force,” he said.
In an hour-long press conference on Tuesday, Trump refused to rule out using military force to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland, and also suggested he intended to use “economic force” to make Canada form part of the United States.
Egede, a member of the independence party Community of the People (AI), stated last week that Greenland “is not for sale and never will be.”
Arriving at Copenhagen airport late Tuesday night, Egede responded to Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic pressure to take control of Greenland, saying they were “serious statements.”
His meeting with the king, scheduled for early in the day, was postponed to the afternoon at the last minute, Egede’s office citing “scheduling problems.” Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to Greenland on Tuesday prompted the cancellation of the meeting to be seen by some as a snub toward the king, who recently modified the royal coat of arms to more prominently include the symbols of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. both autonomous territories of Denmark.
Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, a Greenlandic MP who represents the Siumut party in the Danish Parliament, told The Guardian that she thought Trump’s comments about coercion were “directed more at Panama than Greenland.” But, he said, his words “underscore the growing geopolitical importance of Greenland.” He added: “It also underlines the need for constructive dialogue. “While I do not interpret his comments as a threat of military force against Greenland or Denmark, they do suggest that the United States may feel compelled to act if the Kingdom of Denmark is unable to effectively address security concerns.”
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