- The reports about Greenland are very worrying.
This was stated by the EU's foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, at a press conference on Thursday during a visit to Egypt.
- We are discussing the issue with the EU countries. Whether the threats are real and what we should do, says Kaja Kallas.
Following the US intervention in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump has caused deep concern in Europe by reiterating his desire to gain control over Greenland.
Most recently, US Vice President J.D. Vance, in an interview with Fox News on Thursday night Danish time, repeated his criticism of Denmark and Europe for not having sufficiently taken care of Greenlandic and Western security.
"Greenland is crucial - not just to our national security - but to the national security of the world," Vance told Fox News.
- The entire infrastructure surrounding missile defense is partially dependent on Greenland, the vice president continues.
He then talks about an imagined situation where Russia or China fires a missile at Western countries.
"I'm not saying they're going to do it. But if - God forbid - someone in the future fired a nuclear missile at our continent or Europe, then Greenland is a crucial part of that missile defense," Vance says.
- So you ask yourself: Have the Europeans and the Danes done a decent job of securing Greenland and ensuring that it can be a crucial part of world security? The answer is that they clearly haven't.
The US decision to send special forces into Venezuela to detain the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, has caused deep concern in Europe.
The question is whether the United States will also be ready to use military or economic power to take over Greenland.
Against this bleak backdrop, Denmark has received support from a number of European and Nordic countries.
Most recently, on Tuesday, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, in a joint statement with Denmark, stated that decisions about Greenland's future should be made solely by Greenland and Denmark.
The EU Commission has also emphasized that it stands behind the international principles of maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries.
- Denmark is a good ally of the United States, and the latest statements do not help stability in the world, says Kaja Kallas.
She states that the United States, like other countries, only has the right to use military force for self-defense and to fulfill UN Security Council resolutions.
- The international rules are clear, and we must adhere to them.
- They protect smaller countries, and it is in everyone's interest that they are maintained at all levels, says Kaja Kallas.
Greenland has close ties to the EU, but withdrew from the then EC in 1985.
Therefore, it is an open question what the EU can do concretely beyond expressing support and emphasizing the international rules.
As a member of the EU, Denmark has the opportunity to invoke the special Article 42, paragraph 7.
It obliges all Member States to provide assistance by all means if a Member State is subjected to an armed attack on its territory.
The article was last activated by France after the terrorist attacks in 2015.
/ritzau/
