Joint security deal could end Greenland row: Lithuania
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said an agreement on sharing responsibility for the security of the Arctic and North Atlantic could provide a way out of the conflict between the United States and Europe over Greenland.
Nauseda told Reuters in an interview during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that the Greenland issue overshadowed the war in Ukraine and played into Russia’s hands, and called on the United States to reduce tensions.
“The best outcome would be to agree on shared responsibility for the security of the Arctic region and the North Atlantic region. Is it possible to achieve this? We must do our best to go in this direction because it is the best way,” he said.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was “no turning back” from his goal of seizing Greenland and refused to rule out the possibility of seizing the Arctic island by force and rounding off allies.
Trump’s ambition to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from NATO member Denmark has threatened to disintegrate the military alliance that has underpinned the security of North America and Europe for decades.
European Union leaders will discuss their options at an emergency summit on Thursday, and Nauseda said it would show whether the bloc can form a united front on Greenland.
He said the next two weeks would likely show how the dispute would be resolved.
Claiming that the future of NATO is at stake, Nauseda said he hopes countries that may be skeptical about military support to Ukraine will understand that Europe has reached a critical juncture.
Trump will speak in Davos on Wednesday, and Nauseda said he hopes the US president will send some signals about reducing tensions over Greenland.
Describing protecting territorial integrity as an “inviolable principle”, Nauseda said there was always room to reduce tensions.
“But of course the prerequisite is that both sides want to de-escalate, and I’m not sure about that now. It’s clear that Europe is willing to de-escalate. I hope the United States will too.”
The Greenland dispute diverts attention from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and creates additional difficulties for Europe’s eastern flank, Lithuania’s president said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen opposed Trump’s statement that if the United States does not buy Greenland, a 10 percent import duty will be imposed on goods from eight European countries centered around Denmark from February.
He promised that the EU’s response would be “frightening, united and proportionate”.
“We must respect international law and territorial integrity,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in the island’s capital, Nuuk, on Tuesday.
He said these principles should unite democratic countries and was grateful for the support from EU allies.
“International law, this is not a game,” he said.
“We have been a close and loyal ally of the United States and NATO for many years. We can do much more within this framework. We are ready to cooperate much more, but of course within the framework of mutual respect, and if we cannot see this, it will be very difficult for us to have a good and reliable partnership.”
Denmark wants a permanent presence in Greenland from NATO, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday.
He said the increased NATO presence in the Baltic Sea and Baltic States could be a model for this.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt requested a NATO mission for the Arctic region in their meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday.
Frederiksen said “a stronger NATO strategy was welcomed” at a meeting with the head of the military alliance in Brussels.
Denmark is strengthening its military presence in Greenland.
Last week, soldiers from several European NATO countries arrived on the island for a multi-day reconnaissance tour led by Denmark.
With DPA and AP
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