As President Donald Trump has threatened to invade and occupy Denmark’s Greenland island, European allies are working on a plan to tackle the US aggression.
As President Donald Trump has threatened to invade and occupy Denmark’s Greenland island, European allies are working on a plan to tackle the US aggression.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that European allies, including Germany and Poland, are in discussions to make a plan about Trump’s threats.
“We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners,” said Barrot, according to Reuters.
Barrot further said that Trump’s threats will be subject of discussion in the meeting of foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Poland later in the day.
The White House has formally said that the military option to annex Greenland —an invasion followed by an occupation— is on the table and the Trump administration remains committed to annex the island.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal,” the White House told CNN on Tuesday.
But Barrot said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him that the administration was looking forward to buy Greenland instead.
“I myself was on the phone yesterday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (…) who confirmed that this was not the approach taken … he ruled out the possibility of an invasion (of Greenland),” said Barrot, according to Reuters.
Trump’s threats should be taken seriously, says Denmark’s PM
Since last week’s invasion of Venezuela and capture of Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration has been emboldened in its expansionist agenda. Trump and his supporters have breathlessly said they would annex Greenland and would invade the island if required. Even as Rubio has apparently sought to downplay these repeated declarations, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said Trump’s threats are serious.
Frederiksen further said that the US invasion of Greenland would mean the death of Nato — both Denmark and the United States are Nato members.
“If the United States chooses to attack another Nato country militarily, then everything stops. That is, including our Nato and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2.
Trump has hinted that the US invasion of Greenland could already be in motion. After invading Venezuela, he said “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days”.
“We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” said Trump.
Even as European allies and Canada have rallied behind Denmark in the face of Trump’s threats, there are concerns that the kingdom could be too cautious in its approach. European allies have said that the kingdom has not clearly articulated its stand.
A senior European official told Reuters that Denmark must lead the effort to coordinate a response, but “the Danes have yet to communicate to their European allies what kind of concrete support they wish to receive”.
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