Denmark’s Prime Minister has insisted Greenland is not for sale and called for a robust response from her European Union partners should US President Donald Trump press ahead with his threat to take control of the island.
Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Brussels as EU leaders gathered for defence talks: “I will never support the idea of fighting allies. But of course, if the US puts tough terms on Europe, we need a collective and robust response.”
Greenland, home to a large American military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a long-time US ally.
Ms Frederiksen said she has “great support” from her EU partners on the strength of the fact “that everybody has to respect the sovereignty of all national states in the world, and that Greenland is today a part of the Kingdom of Denmark”.
She declared: “It’s part of our territory and it’s not for sale.”
The Danish leader acknowledged US concerns about security in the Arctic Region, where Russia and China have been increasingly active, saying: “I totally agree with the Americans that the High North, that the Arctic region, is becoming more and more important when we are talking about defence and security and deterrence.”
Ms Frederiksen added that the US and Denmark could have “stronger footprints” in Greenland, in security terms.
“If this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” Ms Frederiksen said.
Last week, her government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner (around £1.6 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region”.
This would include three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity, the defence ministry in Copenhagen said.
Ms Frederiksen’s remarks came as EU leaders met for defence talks but with no clear sign yet from Mr Trump about how he intends to try to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Europeans fear that any attempt to pull together a quick deal would not be favourable to Ukraine.
The summit agenda focuses on EU-US cooperation, military spending and ramping up Europe’s defence industry.
The meeting comes as Europe’s biggest land conflict since the Second World War approaches its third anniversary, and with confidence in Mr Trump shaky as he threatens his allies with tariffs.
Mr Trump has already slapped duties on European steel and aluminium during his first term.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: “We were listening carefully to those words, and of course we are preparing also on our side.”
But, she underlined, “there are no winners in trade wars. If … the US starts a trade war, then the one laughing on the side is China. We are very interlinked”.
