On Wednesday, European leaders reacted with apprehension to President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out occupying Greenland with military force.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the European Union’s leaders will not stand for the borders of Denmark to be violated, as international law upholds the sovereignty of Danish land.
The idea of inviolability of borders applies to all countries, whether they are to the east or west of us, Scholz added, adding that in his conversations with our European allies, a certain lack of understanding has surfaced over recent pronouncements from the USA.
His remarks followed Trump’s refusal on Tuesday to rule out using economic pressure or military force to try to seize Greenland. He made these comments during a press conference while his son, Donald Trump Jr., was in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
In a post on his Truth Social platform that same day, Trump said that Greenland is a fantastic place and that its citizens will greatly benefit if and when it joins our country.
Even while they seemed to imply that the prospect of an American invasion of Danish soil was implausible, other prominent European MPs responded to Scholz on Wednesday with a similar robust stance.
Jean-Noel Barrot, the foreign minister of France, stated on France Inter Radio on Wednesday that foreign attacks on Greenland’s boundaries were unacceptable and would not be allowed.
However, if you were to ask me if I believe that the United States will attack Greenland, I would say that I do not.
Steffen Hebestreit, the spokesperson for the German government, also cited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe military treaty and the U.N. Charter’s tenet that boundaries cannot be forcibly altered during a press conference on Tuesday.
In the event that a member of the bloc is attacked, a mutual defense clause in the EU treaty requires all members to utilize all of their resources to provide help and assistance.
Whether serious or not, experts warn that Trump’s unrestrained foreign policy strategy might have long-term consequences.
In an interview with NBC News on Tuesday, Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of Denmark’s Institute for Strategy and War Studies stated that his remarks will increase European mistrust of the United States and prompt European leaders to seek more strategic autonomy.
However, he continued, “the simple fact is that Europe will have to live with Trump in any case because it depends on the U.S. for the foreseeable future.”
In keeping with that, European Commission spokesman Anitta Hipper stated during a press conference on Wednesday that the commission was eager to collaborate with the incoming U.S. administration on a robust Transatlantic agenda.
Denmark has responded to Trump’s remarks in two ways: first, by reiterating its economic and political ties to Greenland; and second, by attempting to minimize any potential conflict with the future Trump government.
The nation’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, denied that the matter had devolved into a foreign policy crisis on Wednesday, stating that Trump’s Arctic security concerns—one of the reasons he gave for seeking to annex Greenland—were valid given the rise in Russian and Chinese activity in the area.
Since his first term in office, Trump has had his sights set on Greenlands. Last month, he told reporters that the strategic location and abundance of natural resources of the large Arctic island made U.S. control of it essential to the country’s economic security.
He threatened to impose extremely high tariffs on Denmark on Tuesday unless it relinquished its territorial authority.
Although Lokke Rasmussen on Wednesday left the door open for the possibility of Greenland’s independence from Copenhagen, Prime Minister M te Egede has long advocated for the territory’s independence. He has previously rejected Trump’s proposal to seize control of the nation he rules.
In a post on X, former French ambassador to NATO Muriel Domenach stated that Denmark would theoretically have good reason to confer with its NATO allies over a response to Trump’s threats, since both the U.S. and Denmark are part of the military bloc.
However, Rahbek-Clemmensen stated that Denmark does not want to engage in a public dispute with Trump, since this could negatively impact U.S.-Danish relations in the long run.
He went on to say that the Danes are hoping that this would pass in time.
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