US attack on Greenland would mean end of Nato, says Danish PM | Greenland

The Danish leader warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the end of both the military alliance and “post-second world war security” after Donald Trump threatened to retake Greenland.

The US president, fresh from a military operation in Venezuela, said on Sunday that the US needed Greenland “badly”; This renewed fears of a US invasion of the largely autonomous island, which was a former Danish colony and remains part of the Danish kingdom. Greenland’s foreign and security policy continues to be controlled by Copenhagen.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that any US attack on a NATO ally would be the end of “everything”.

“If the US decides to launch a military attack on another NATO country, then everything stops, including NATO and therefore post-World War II security,” Frederiksen told Danish television network TV2.

His comments came after Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, issued a bracingly direct statement in which he called on Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” and said “Enough is enough,” accusing the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric.

Nielsen said in his social media post, “Threats, pressure and talk of annexation have no place among friends.” “This is not how you talk to a people who have repeatedly demonstrated responsibility, stability and loyalty. Enough is enough. No pressure, no insinuations. No fantasies of annexation.”

He said Greenland was “open to dialogue” but that this should be done through appropriate channels and in accordance with international law, “not random and disrespectful posts on social media”.

He added: “Greenland is and will remain our home, our land.”

Frederiksen said his government had done everything possible to prevent an attack on Greenland and accused the United States of applying “unacceptable pressure”, calling it “an unreasonable attack on the world community”.

“You cannot enter another country’s territory and seize part of it,” he told Danish broadcaster DR, adding: “If the US chooses to attack another NATO country, everything will stop.

“From the beginning, unfortunately, I said that I believed the American president was serious about this issue. I also made it very clear where Denmark stands. Greenland has also repeatedly said that it does not want to be part of the United States.”

Frederiksen said he had been “very open” against Trump both publicly and privately, adding that he would “do everything to fight for fundamental democratic values ​​and the international community we have built.”

Nielsen and Frederiksen were backed by the EU, which said on Monday it would not give up defending the principle of territorial integrity, especially when it comes to a member of the 27-member bloc.

“The EU will continue to support the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders,” Anitta Hipper, the EU’s chief foreign policy spokeswoman, told reporters. “These are universal principles and we will not stop defending them, especially if the territorial integrity of a member state of the European Union is called into question.”

But pressure is mounting on Frederiksen, who faces a general election this year, to go beyond diplomacy and put forward more concrete plans for how Denmark would respond if Greenland were invaded.

Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament and representative of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, said that while she did not believe an invasion was imminent, Greenlanders should “prepare for the worst.”

“We have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That’s how I see it at the moment. We’re in a worrying situation,” he told the Guardian. Chemnitz said Trump’s last words were the “worst and most serious” of threats to Greenland and signaled the emergence of a “new world order.”

“Just a few months ago, most of us were seeing the political world the way we used to see it, which is that you can dialogue, you can cooperate…etc.” he said. “But the fact that the United States is talking about Greenland and trying to ‘cooperate with Greenland’ means that we are facing a completely new world order.”

Chemnitz added: “The future of Greenland depends entirely on us. I understand that [Trump] “He may be interested in owning Greenland, but Greenland is not interested in being part of the United States.”

Trump, who last year refused to rule out military intervention to seize control of Greenland, has remained relatively silent on the issue in recent months.

But the US bombing of Venezuela to capture its president Nicolás Maduro and Trump’s comments over the weekend have revived fears that he may follow through on his threats.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, when asked whether he expected action in Greenland, he refused to answer, saying he would revisit the issue “in 20 days” before mocking Denmark’s defense efforts.

Trump said, “Right now, Greenland is full of Chinese and Russian ships. We need Greenland for national security reasons. Denmark will not be able to fulfill this task.”

Pele Broberg, leader of Greenland’s pro-independence opposition party Naleraq, said he was not concerned about Trump’s comments.

“I’m pretty confident that the United States will protect Greenland as an independent nation when we want to be an independent nation,” he said, adding that the Greenlandic government should be in dialogue with the Trump administration. “Also, the United States cannot do anything to us that Denmark has not already done.”

Last month, Danish intelligence services accused the United States of using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten military force against its allies. The incident comes amid rising tensions in the Arctic, where three global superpowers – the US, China and Russia – are fighting for dominance over the region’s minerals and other geopolitical assets as the ice melts.

Scandinavian neighbors Sweden, Norway and Finland have expressed their support for Denmark. Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Only Denmark and Greenland have the right to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland. Sweden fully supports our neighboring country.”