“Preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviolability of its borders is essential for all member states”; said António Costa, President of the European Council, on Monday February 3, at the close of the informal ‘retreat’ of EU heads of state and government.
Mr. Costa pledged that the EU would continue to “defend the United Nations Charter, the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders”, principles “which we stand for in support to Ukraine, and which we will also stand for, all the more so, if the territorial integrity of an EU member state is called into question”.
This clarification was necessary at a time when US President Donald Trump is claiming sovereignty over this territory belonging to the Danish crown. However, no one was able to say on Monday how the Europeans would defend Greenland in the event of an American move.
On her arrival in Brussels, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was equally firm: “Greenland is today a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is part of our territory, and it is not for sale”. She did, however, agree with the Americans that the Arctic region was becoming increasingly important in terms of security and defense. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Camille-Cerise Gessant and Pauline Denys)