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Roving Periscope: NATO and EU may split as Denmark to defend Greenland from the US

Roving Periscope: NATO and EU may split as Denmark to defend Greenland from the US

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Virendra Pandit

 

New Delhi: With 85 percent of Greenlanders refusing to be part of the United States, and Denmark infusing nearly USD 2.5 billion (two billion pounds) in enhancing its military presence across the Arctic and North Atlantic regions, President Donald Trump may face a serious foreign policy challenge ahead.

Denmark, which formally ‘runs’ Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory, will make a fresh investment of €2 billion in enhancing its military presence across the Arctic and North Atlantic region, the country’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said amid President Trump’s repeated demands of buying or taking control of Greenland, the media reported on Wednesday.

Poulsen said, “There are serious challenges regarding security and defense in the Arctic and North Atlantic,” adding that three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity will be included in the package.

Denmark’s Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen also declared that “Trump will not have Greenland. Greenland is Greenland. And the Greenlandic people are a people, also in the sense of international law.”

“This is also why we have said time and again that it is ultimately Greenland that decides Greenland’s situation.”

Despite Trump claiming the island’s population ‘want to be with us’, Greenlanders overwhelmingly rejected the idea

A new opinion poll shows that 85 percent of Greenlanders do not want their island to become a part of the United States. Since his re-election for a second, non-consecutive term in November 2024, Trump has reiterated his interest in acquiring the Arctic island, multiple media reports said.

Speaking onboard Air Force One on Saturday last week, Trump said: “I think we’re going to have it,” and claimed that the Arctic island’s 57,000 residents “want to be with us.”

However, a new survey conducted by pollster Verian, and commissioned by the Danish paper Berlingske, showed only 6 percent of Greenlanders are in favour of becoming part of the US, with 9 percent still undecided.

The new poll came as Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that “Europe must ‘stand together’ in its own right, in the face of changing relations with the US.

During a whistle-stop tour of Berlin, Paris, and Brussels, and after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he said: “I want to ensure that all of Europe stands together. Not only in connection with the kingdom of Denmark but also more broadly.”

Frederiksen, who also met French President Emmanuel Macron, added: “Everyone in Europe can see that it will be a different collaboration with the USA now.

“At least these are the tones we hear from Washington about trade and economic cooperation. What the consequences of that are, we don’t know yet.”

Scholz said that “borders must not be moved by force.”

Speaking ahead of her final stop of the day in Brussels, where she planned to meet Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, she also said she was working “very, very hard right now” to look after Denmark’s interests.

“Regardless of what happens in the USA, Europe must stand stronger in its own right,” the Social Democrat leader added.

Trump has refused to rule out using military force to take the Arctic island, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which continues to control Greenland’s foreign policy and defense.

He appeared to double down on his geopolitical ambitions over the weekend, declaring: “I think we’re going to have it (Greenland).” He was reported to have threatened Denmark with tariffs.

Asked if she would speak to Trump again, Frederiksen said she would not “go into concrete calendar gymnastics” but added: “The dialogue we have with the Americans takes place on several different channels and levels.”

At their joint press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, neither Scholz nor Frederiksen mentioned Trump or Greenland, but it seemed clear the issue was on their minds.

After speaking about Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and how “inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international law,” Scholz said: “The principle must apply to everyone. I made that clear again from this point a few days ago. Borders must not be moved by force.”

Switching to English, he added: “To whom it may concern.”

While German chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly stressed that ‘borders must not be moved by force,’ Frederiksen said Europe was facing a “more uncertain reality” that called for greater cooperation.

“We need a stronger and more resolute Europe standing increasingly in its own right, capable of defending and promoting Europe and the European interests,” she said. “We have to take more responsibility for our security.”

European Union leaders will hold their first summit dedicated to defense next Monday, to discuss funding and new military capabilities. Defense has risen up the agenda since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the return of Trump, who has previously said he would encourage Russia to attack NATO allies considered not to be paying their fair share, has made the issue more urgent.

So far most EU leaders have refrained from commenting directly on Trump’s incendiary comments about Greenland, which, reports said, was a deliberate strategy. A senior EU official said it had been decided “not to go for a tit-for-tat because it is not seen as helpful”.

It has been a challenging January for Frederiksen, as Denmark has been singled out by the US and publicly threatened not just with tariffs but potential military intervention over Greenland.

On Sunday night, amid leaks of her reportedly “horrendous” 45-minute call with the US President, she put on a show of Nordic unity by sharing a photo on social media of a cozy-looking dinner at a kitchen table with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson, and the Finnish President, Alexander Stubb.

Plans announced by Denmark this week include a 14.6bn krone (£1.65bn, $2bn) agreement with Greenland and the Faroe Islands to “improve surveillance and sovereignty assertion in the regions”.

The plans include three new Arctic ships that can carry helicopters and drones, two long-range drones that can acquire detailed images over long distances, and improved “satellite capacity” to monitor the Arctic and northern Atlantic.

Trump has previously ridiculed Denmark’s defense plans for Greenland. By boosting spending, Copenhagen will hope to demonstrate that it is capable of defending the island.

The Danish government said the agreement would also enable more young people in Greenland – which has a population of 57,000 – to gain skills “to take responsibility for preparedness and asserting sovereignty”.

The Inuit Circumpolar Council, the body that represents all Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Chukotka, and Greenland, said the last few weeks had shown how important the Arctic was to the international agenda. However, it warned, there was “no such thing as the better colonizer”.

“We do not wish to debate which state is better or worse to live in or is a better or worse colonizer,” it said in a statement.

“Rather we want to debate how we improve Inuit lives, livelihoods, wellbeing, and self-determination across all our regions.”

 

 

 

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