At a debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday 20 January, High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, and several representatives of the European Parliament’s political groups reiterated that Greenland was not for sale.
“Greenland belongs to its people. No threat, no customs duty will change that. Sovereignty is not for sale”, stressed Mrs Kallas, promising that the EU would stand by the territory and Denmark to defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty.
For Villy Søvndal (Greens/EFA, Danish), Greenland will never be for sale, whether under military or economic threat, and a people must not be “stripped” of the right to decide its own future. “Sovereignty is not a commodity, it is not something that can be negotiated”, added Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Danish).
MEPs reiterated that Europeans have the tools to respond to US threats. On the same day, the Cypriot Finance Minister, Mákis Keravnós, stated that the Economy and Finance Ministers were ready to take any follow-up measures “depending on the directives we receive from the European leaders”, who will be meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
“We must not be content with words, we must take action and confront this superpower using our own market”, said Renew Europe MEP Morten Løkkegaard (Danish). Quoting Theodore Roosevelt, he explained that Europe had to speak softly and carry a big stick. He added: “Nothing should be prohibited”.
For Jordan Bardella (PfE, French), “the EU does not have the right to remain silent”. In his view, the trade agreement with the United States should be suspended, the anti-coercion instrument should be activated “without delay”, targeted measures on US services and exports to Europe should be introduced, and European preference in the defence market should be implemented.
“We need to use the legislative muscle we have, the commercial bazooka (anti-coercion tool, Editor’s note), a very clear element we have. Europe is strong enough economically to stand up to the United States”, added Per Clausen (The Left, Danish).
During the presentation of the EU Council’s Cypriot priorities to Parliament earlier in the day, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, reiterated that the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn by force. “And if that principle falls, everything becomes negotiable – whether in Ukraine, in Greenland or anywhere else. So, we must build a stronger European Security Architecture, including strengthening Arctic security”, he pleaded.
Not plunging into a dangerous spiral. At Davos, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated that the EU shared the United States’ objectives regarding security in the Arctic region.
“Plunging us into a dangerous downward spiral would only benefit the adversaries we are both determined to keep off the strategic landscape. Our response will therefore be firm, united and proportionate”, explained the President of the Commission.
Describing the threat of US tariffs as a mistake, Mrs von der Leyen pointed out that the EU and the US concluded a trade agreement last summer. “And in politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it has to mean something”, she stressed.
The American President, Donald Trump, will be in Davos on Wednesday, where a meeting of “different parties” on Greenland will be held, according to him. “I don’t think they’ll put up much of a fight. We must have it”, he told the media. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)