European Leaders Rebuff Trump’s Threats to Seize Greenland
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European leaders presented a united front today against US President Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, calling the Arctic a critical pillar of European, international and transatlantic security. “NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up,” leaders from seven nations said in a joint statement.
Trump’s repeated threats to take over Greenland — most recently after US troops captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — have stoked deep unease in Europe. Top Trump aide Stephen Miller added to the tensions when he asserted in a CNN interview that the US has a right to take the territory in a world “governed by strength.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned yesterday that any US attack on Greenland would spell the end of NATO. Greenland is a self-ruling territory of Denmark, a North American Treaty Organization member. The European leaders said that “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Jeff Landry, President Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, appeared to take a softer stance on the issue today, telling CNBC in an interview that the US president isn’t ready to seize the island and supports an independent Greenland.