Statement by President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Tusk of Poland, Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain, Prime Minister Starmer of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Frederiksen of Denmark on Greenland.
Arctic security remains a key priority for Europe and it is critical for international and transatlantic security.
NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up. We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries. The Kingdom of Denmark – including Greenland – is part of NATO.
Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them.
The United States is an essential partner in this endeavour, as a NATO ally and through the defence agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States of 1951.
Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.
Difficult to see how these bromides about the Rules-Based Order will do anything but encourage a vain bully like Trump. Because this is personal, it makes no sense in any other terms.
My intuition is that the better response would be measured bellicosity. Say: “Sure you could ‘conquer’ Greenland, but it would be your Afghanistan. The Greenlanders would fight a guerilla war against you, and since Greenland is part of Denmark, we Europeans - your former allies - would have to supply them. After all, it’s part of our territory, we would have no choice. So. Up to you.”