Danish PM says U.S. attack on Greenland would be end of NATO
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that a U.S. military attack on Greenland would effectively mark the end of the NATO alliance, as she sharply rebuked renewed rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump about taking control of the Arctic country.
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country, then everything ends,” Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish public broadcaster DR. “Including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War.”
Her comments came a day after Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that the United States would revisit the issue of Greenland in the near future.
“We will deal with Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” Trump said, without elaborating on what action he was referring to.
Frederiksen said Trump should be taken seriously when he says he wants control of Greenland, calling his recent remarks “an unacceptable pressure” and “an unreasonable attack on the international community.” She rejected Trump’s claim that U.S. national security requires control of Greenland, saying no country can make territorial claims on another part of the Danish realm.
“The answer from the Kingdom’s side is of course no,” she said, adding that Greenlanders have repeatedly made clear they do not want to become part of the United States. “They want to be Greenlanders, not Americans.”
The prime minister stressed that Denmark and Greenland are NATO allies that have invested significantly in Arctic security and noted what she described as strong backing from European partners. She said Denmark would continue to defend Greenlanders’ right to decide their own future and the international rules that prohibit the use of force to change borders.
Earlier Monday, the prime ministers of the other Nordic nations all released official statements expressing their support for Greenlandic territorial sovereignty and the Kingdom of Denmark.
