In response to threats by US President, Donald Trump, to annex Greenland, the European Union reiterated, on Monday 5 January, that the EU “will continue to uphold the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders and the UN Charter”.
“These are universal principles and we will not stop defending them. All the more so if the territorial integrity of a member state of the European Union is in question”, explained the spokesperson for the European External Action Service, Anitta Hipper. “As a matter of principle the situation is that we expect all our partners to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity and to abide by their international commitments”, she added.
She recalled the message on the X social network from EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on 22 December, which underscored the Union’s solidarity with Greenland and Denmark. “Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide”, she said.
European Commission spokesperson, Paula Pinho, pointed out that Greenland was “an ally of the United States” and was covered by NATO, refusing to draw any comparison with the US intervention in Venezuela (see other news item). “Each country can be of great interest in many respects, but this should not generate interest other than that linked to business, investment, etc. Nothing more”, she added.
The day before, Donald Trump had explained that his country “needs Greenland from the point of view of national security, and Denmark will not be able to take care of it”. “We’ll be dealing with Greenland in about two months... let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days”, he told reporters. “The EU needs us to have Greenland and it knows it”, added the President, a position refuted by Paula Pinho. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)