Mette Frederiksen said Denmark stands ready to defend its values as President Trump renews his threat to seize Danish territory.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country faces a “defining moment” over the future of Greenland after US President Donald Trump renewed his threat to seize territory in the Arctic region by force.
“There is a conflict going on over Greenland,” Frederiksen said ahead of a conference on the global scramble for key raw materials to be held in Washington, D.C., starting Monday.
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“This is a decisive moment” with stakes beyond the immediate question of Greenland’s future, Frederiksen added in a debate with other Danish political leaders.
“We are ready to defend our values wherever necessary, even in the Arctic. We believe in international law and the right of peoples to self-determination,” the prime minister wrote on Facebook.
Germany and Sweden supported Denmark against President Trump’s recent claims to autonomous territory.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the United States’ “threatening rhetoric” after President Trump repeatedly said “we’re going to do something to Greenland whether we like it or not.”
“Sweden, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and several major European powers stand in solidarity with our friends in Denmark,” Kristersson told a defense conference in Saren, which also included the US military commander in charge of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Kristersson said the U.S. occupation of mineral-rich Greenland “is a violation of international law and risks encouraging other countries to do exactly the same.”
Germany reiterated its support for Denmark and Greenland ahead of the talks in Washington.
German Federal Foreign Minister Johann Vardepur met in Iceland on Monday to address “strategic challenges in the Far North,” ahead of talks with U.S. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Arctic security is becoming increasingly important” and “is part of our common interest in NATO,” he said at a joint press conference with Icelandic Foreign Minister Torgeldur Katrin Gunnarsdottir.
Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday that military leaders from Britain and other European countries are drawing up plans for a possible NATO mission in Greenland.
The newspaper reported that British officials have begun early talks with Germany, France and others about a possible plan to send British troops, warships and aircraft to protect Greenland from Russia and China.
Britain’s Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander told Sky News that talks on how to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Arctic are going on “as usual.”
“This region is increasingly geopolitically contested with Russia and China…You would think we would be talking to all our NATO allies about what we can do to stop Russian aggression in the Arctic,” Alexander said.
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Franken said in an interview with Reuters that NATO should launch operations in the Arctic to address U.S. security concerns.
“We must work together, cooperate and show strength and unity,” Franken said, adding the need for “NATO operations in the High North.”
Franken suggested NATO’s Operation Baltic Sentry and Operation Eastern Sentry, which combine national militaries with drones, sensors and other technology to monitor land and sea, as possible models for an “Arctic Sentry.”
President Trump has argued that seizing Greenland is critical to U.S. national security as Russia and China increase military activity in the Arctic.
Greenland, a Danish colony until 1953, gained autonomy 26 years later and is considering eventually loosening ties with Denmark.
Opinion polls show Greenland residents strongly oppose a US takeover.
