Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is appealing to her European allies for help in fighting US President Donald Trump's demands to hand over Greenland. This is reported by Bloomberg.
Frederiksen is touring major capitals after pouring $2 billion into defending an Arctic island that Trump has his sights set on, part of a broader plan to increase patrols in North Atlantic waters.
According to informed sources, Denmark, which is under almost daily attack from the new White House, has decided not to actively support Trump's rhetoric in public and has asked its European allies to do the same.
According to sources, the idea is to downplay the threats and not escalate the situation.
Trump has made it clear that his plans for Greenland, which date back to his first term, are not going away. He insists he wants to take over the world's largest island for security reasons and has refused to rule out the use of force.
Frederiksen visited Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and then met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on January 28.
In line with Denmark's strategy, Frederiksen and Scholz avoided direct mention of the Greenland crisis in their statements to reporters before the talks.
However, in a thinly veiled reference to the territorial claims made by the US president, Scholz stated that the inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international law that every country must adhere to.
"This principle should apply to everyone," Scholz said, adding: "I also made it clear here a few days ago: borders should not be moved by force, no matter who it affects."
For her part, Frederiksen said in Berlin: "We are facing a more uncertain reality, a reality that requires an even more united Europe and more cooperation. Europe, our continent, is founded on the idea that cooperation, not confrontation, will lead to peace, progress, prosperity, and let us honor this idea."
Military protection
The US president mocked Denmark's ability to defend the island, which has a large degree of self-government but no military of its own and is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The US has had an air base in Greenland since the end of World War II and has the right to increase its military presence there as long as it consults and informs both Denmark and Greenland.
The money for the new warships will come from Denmark's existing defense budget, which was increased after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said last week that Denmark, a founding member of NATO, may have to spend more than $70 billion on its military needs by 2033.
The ministry said that the Danish government and most opposition parties have agreed to start negotiations at the end of 2025 on a second package of military measures in the Arctic.
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