Greenland says it cannot accept US takeover ‘under any circumstances’ | Greenland

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said the organization was working on ways to improve Arctic security, while the Greenlandic government said it “cannot accept under any circumstances” Donald Trump’s desire to take control of Greenland.

At the start of a critical week for the vast Arctic island that is largely self-governing territory of Denmark, the US president reiterated his interest in the strategically located, mineral-rich region, saying the US would address the issue “one way or another”.

The US president shocked the EU and NATO by refusing to rule out using military force to seize Greenland, which has many protections because Denmark belongs to both.

Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt and her Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen will meet US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday.

Noting that a 1951 treaty has already allowed the United States to significantly expand its military presence in the region, Denmark has repeatedly said Greenland is not ready to be usurped and hopes a diplomatic solution can be found.

Greenland’s government said in a statement on Monday that the island was “part of the kingdom of Denmark” and “a member of NATO as part of the Danish community”. He said he would step up efforts to ensure his defense takes place “within the framework of NATO”.

The statement said that the region’s ruling coalition “believes that Greenland will forever be part of the Western defense alliance” and that “all NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of the island.”

Trump said that the United States should control Greenland to increase the security of the Arctic in the face of the alleged threat from China and Russia. Rutte said on Monday that NATO was “working on the next steps to ensure that we collectively protect what is at stake.”

Speaking during a visit to Croatia, the alliance’s secretary general said: “All allies agree on the importance of Arctic and Arctic security, because we know that with the opening of sea lanes there is a risk that the Russians and Chinese will become more active.”

NATO diplomats said that some alliance members have made suggestions such as launching a new mission in the region, deploying more equipment or conducting exercises, but the talks are still at an early stage and there are no concrete plans.

Rutte did not address Trump’s comments on Greenland but said other allies welcomed “discussions on how we can act fundamentally.” [come] He added that Denmark is also “accelerating its investments in the field of defence”.

Answering questions after his meeting with Rubio, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul downplayed the risk of the US seizing Greenland. “I have no indication that this is being seriously considered,” he said when asked about the possibility of Trump taking unilateral action.

“Rather, I believe that there is a common interest in addressing the security challenges that arise in the Arctic region, and that we must and will do so,” he told reporters.

“NATO is only now in the process of developing more concrete plans on this issue, which will be discussed later with our US partners.”

If the United States uses military force to take Greenland, it would be the end of NATO, EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius said on Monday, adding that EU states would have to come to Denmark’s aid if it faced aggression.

“I agree with the Danish prime minister that this will be the end of NATO,” Kubilius told Reuters at a conference in Sweden. He said Article 42.7 of the EU treaty, the bloc’s mutual assistance clause, would oblige members to take action in the event of an attack.

“This will largely depend on Denmark, how they react and what their position will be,” he said. “But if another member state faces military attack, there is absolutely an obligation for member states to come to mutual aid.”

The article has only come into force once so far, when France appealed for aid after the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attack and experts questioned whether Greenland, which is outside the EU, would meet those conditions without a change in the EU’s legal order.

A group of U.S. senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who said last week that taking Greenland “shouldn’t happen.” [the US’s] list” will also visit Copenhagen to meet with politicians from the Greenland committee of the Danish parliament.

Committee chair Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician who sits in the Danish parliament, told reporters the planned meeting was “good news” because “it is important for us to use all the diplomatic contacts we have.”

Chemnitz said there were “many” false claims circulating about Greenland and that “it’s absolutely crucial that we get some facts on the table.” He declined to provide further information about the meeting, saying the details had not yet been fully agreed upon.

Former German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck has suggested that Greenland should be offered EU membership to fend off US interests in the region. Writing in the Guardian, Habeck called for a “pragmatic and phased” proposal.

“This should be the time to openly offer EU membership to Greenland and, in parallel, to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway,” he said in a paper co-authored with Andreas Raspotnik of Nord University in Norway.

Greenland withdrew from the then-European Community in 1985 after gaining its own sovereignty from Denmark in 1979, but the world has “completely changed” since then and “Europe needs to react accordingly,” they said.

China criticized US interest in Greenland on Monday. “The North Pole concerns the general interests of the international community,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference.

He said that China’s activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting peace, stability and sustainable development in the region, and called for respect for the rights and freedoms of all nations to conduct legal activities in the Arctic.