Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that any bid by the United States to take over Greenland will result in the end of the NATO military alliance, as reverberations from Washington’s military attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its leader are felt across the globe.
Frederiksen made the comments on Monday following US President Donald Trump’s latest calls for the Arctic island to come under direct control of Washington.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would “talk about Greenland in 20 days”. He has maintained that Greenland should come under the jurisdiction of the US, and his latest threat came just a day after US forces abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
That military operation has caused alarm in Denmark and Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of the Danish kingdom and thus part of NATO.
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” said Frederiksen.
“That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the second world war,” she told Danish broadcaster TV2.
Trump has not ruled out using military force to take control of Greenland, and last month, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who publicly supports annexation, was named as special envoy to the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, posted on Saturday the contentious image of the Danish autonomous territory in the colours of the US flag on her X feed.
Her post had a single word above it: “SOON”.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called that post “disrespectful”.
“Relations between nations and peoples are built on mutual respect and international law – not on symbolic gestures that disregard our status and our rights,” he said on X.
He, however, added, “There is neither reason for panic nor for concern. Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.”
Greenland’s strategic position between Europe and North America makes it a key site for the US ballistic missile defence system, and its mineral wealth is attractive, as Washington hopes to reduce its reliance on Chinese exports.
“Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said on Sunday.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he added.
Nielsen has looked to calm fears amongst the island’s residents.
“We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight, and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation,” he told a news conference on Monday.
“The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland,” Nielsen added.
