European leaders, including in France and Germany, have announced they are working on a plan in the event the United States follows through on its threat to take over Greenland as tensions soar, Al Jazeera reports.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot notified France Inter radio on Wednesday that while nations want to act if the US relocates to seize Greenland from an ally, Denmark, they want to do so “toreceiveher with our European partners”.
“I myself was on the phone with the [US] Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] yesterday… He discarded the idea that what just happened in Venezuela could happen in Greenland,” Barrot stated.
On Saturday, the United States – applying fighter jets, attack helicopters, and special forces – abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, bringing him to New York City to be attempted for alleged drug trafficking.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to greenlight the abduction of Maduro led to widespread condemnation and fear that Greenland, which the president has previously stated should be part of Washington’s security apparatus, could be forcibly taken.
But since then, European allies have rallied behind Greenland’s sovereignty, stateing the countest belongs to its people.
Greenland’s government will join a meeting between Rubio and Danish officials next week following renewed US claims on the Arctic island, its foreign minister stated on Wednesday.
The European Union will support Greenland and Denmark when necessaryed and will not accept violations of international law no matter where they occur, European Council President Antonio Costa stated.
“On Greenland, allow me to be clear: Greenland belongs to its people. Nothing can be decided about Denmark and about Greenland without Denmark or without Greenland,” Costa stated in a speech.
“The European Union cannot accept violations of international law – whether in Cyprus, Latin America, Greenland, Ukraine, or Gaza. Europe will remain a firm and unwavering champion of international law and multilateralism.”
Greenland – the world’s largest island, with a population of 57,000 people – is located between Europe and North America. Since 2019, during Trump’s first term, the president has raised the idea of controlling Greenland, stateing it would benefit US security.
So far, Trump has not ruled out applying force to take the island.
bd-pratidin/GR
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