By Nkiruka Nnorom with agency reports
European leaders drew a clear line over Greenland yesterday, vowing an unflinching and proportional response to Washington’s threats, even as US President, Donald Trump, said he was ready to hold a meeting in Davos about his plans to take the autonomous Danish territory.
Leaders at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, closed ranks against Trump’s increasingly aggressive America First agenda, while Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said his tiny population of 57,000 must be prepared for military force.
Europe is weighing countermeasures after he threatened levies on eight European countries, though Washington has said any retaliatory levies would be unwise.
Trump policies plunging allies to downward spiral — EU Chief
Speaking at the meeting, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, led the European rejoinder, cautioning that Trump risked plunging US ties with the European Union into a downward spiral, noting that the sovereignty and integrity of their territory are non-negotiable.
“We are working on a massive European investment surge in Greenland. We will work with Greenland and Denmark hand in hand to see how we can further support the local economy and infrastructure,” she said, adding that “we will work with the US and all partners on wider Arctic security.”
“When it comes to the security of the Arctic region, Europe is fully committed, and we share the objectives of the United States in this regard,” she said.
Macron slams rule of the strongest, imperial ambitions
Also speaking, France’s Emmanuel Macron took swipes at Trump’s foreign policy, warning against a descent into strongman politics and a world where international law is trampled under foot.
He warned against US attempts to subordinate Europe, and blasted as unacceptable Trump’s threats to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on countries opposed to his Greenland plans.
“Conflict has become normalized. Without collective governance, cooperation gives way to relentless competition,” he said, slamming US demands on mutual trade, the sole aim of which is to “weaken and subordinate Europe.”
Current situation could threaten world order — Greenland PM
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Trump’s calls for the US to take over the vast Arctic territory had created a situation that threatens the world order.
He said that while military force was unlikely, it could not be ruled out.
“International law is not a game and if we don’t do that, of course, alliances will fall, and that would be very bad,” he said.
NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte’s predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, warned that the Republican’s Greenland gambit had ignited the biggest crisis in NATO’s history, and said the time for flattering the US leader was over.
“It is the future of NATO and the future of the world order that are at stake,” he said.
Other prominent foreign leaders who addressed the WEF included Chinese Vice Premier, He Lifeng, whose country has been locked in a trade war with Trump.
“A select few countries should not have privileges based on self-interest, and the world cannot revert to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak,” he said, without naming any country.
Other flashpoints on the WEF agenda include the crises in Venezuela, Gaza, Iran and Ukraine.
Europe, which is ramping up defence spending to break its security reliance on the United States, still needs Washington’s help to end the Ukraine war and deter the looming Russian threat to its east.
But President Volodymyr Zelensky warned at the meeting that he feared the furore over Greenland could divert attention.
“I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelensky told reporters, adding that the two crises should not be seen as “interchangeable”.
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