Switch the White House newsletter on free of charge
Your guide to what the US election 2024 means for Washington and the world
The EU and NATO rejected a silence about Greenland after Denmark asked her allies to react to Donald Trump’s threats to confiscate the Arctic Island.
Copenhagen’s strategy of avoiding the public confrontation with Trump, which, according to four officials had been coordinated with NATO and the EU, underlines the crawling among us to find out how to deal with the combative diplomacy of the US president.
Trump had A Fiery 45-minute call With Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen last week, Copenhagen stuck in what civil servants called “crisis mode”. Trump has threatened to aim to do tariffs against Denmark, and refused to take the Arctic island by force.
Trump repeated that this weekend He “will” get Greenland “ – An autonomous part of the Denmark kingdom – and mocked Copenhagen’s “dog sled”, which defends the island, where the USA have the greatest military presence.
The United States is a military ally Denmark with a mutual defense agreement. The EU’s government contract also contains mutual defense.
Danish and European officials had initially hoped that Trump’s comments on Greenland were a tactic to gain more influence on the territory, which has increased because Russia and China are looking for more influence on the Arctic.
Officials in the past few days recognized that the situation should be “taken far more seriously”, said one, since the global effects of NATO or the EU did not condemn a violation of national sovereignty by one of its allies.
However, Danish, EU and NATO officials have so far decided to minimize the public discussion due to the deep sensitivity of Copenhagen and the conclusion that Trump’s open challenge will only tighten the crisis.
“A low profile seems to be the safest bet at Trump. Hopefully he will be distracted by something else, ”said a high -ranking European official.
Another high -ranking EU official said: “We believe that a Tit for Tat is not useful. (But) We all stand by our basic principles such as national sovereignty and territorial integrity that have to be respected. We are ready and the Danes know that to reaffirm whenever it is necessary. “
Frederiksen met her Norwegian and Swedish colleagues on Sunday evening and the Finland President in Copenhagen, where the edition of Greenland was addressed in discussions.
After the session, no joint explanation was made. No efforts were also made to coordinate the NATO or EU statements to defend Denmark or Greenland.
When he was asked about Trump’s Greenland comment, and the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, Mark Rutte told The European Parliament last week: “Trump is often right. . . We have to dialogue with him. “
“This is not about who rules or controlled Greenland,” Rutte continued. “Of course, this is about ensuring that the Arctic remains safe.” Neither the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen nor the President of the European Council, António Costa, have given public explanations on Trump’s threats to Denmark.
“We don’t negotiate Greenland. We support our member state of Denmark, ”said EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas on Monday after a session of the blocks of the block. “We look at it from the side of Europe and do not react to what the United States do.”
Behind the scenes, high -ranking civil servants in Brussels, Copenhagen and Nuuk, how the block could strengthen its partnership with Greenland through critical raw material functions and energy, are two European officials reported in the discussions.
“At the moment there are many discreet works to see how we can strengthen the cooperation with Greenland,” said one of the officials. They added that the EU wanted to avoid the EU after years of inactivity, “because Trump put it on the agenda”.
Frederiksen’s government “is doing the right thing to communicate the Americans in a firm but polite way with the communication of the Americans,” said Rasmus Jarlov, former Danish minister and current member of the conservative opposition party.
“It is a good idea not to get involved in a verbal exchange with the Trump administration. It is a good idea to speak to allies in (the) rest of Europe. Europe should stand together if the situation should escalate, ”he added.
Some officials have expressed concerns about whether Europe could give a credible reaction to Trump that affect its threats in relation to Greenland.
“I’m not saying that there is no plan,” said the second European official. “But we have no alternative approach.”
