MANILA: Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out on Friday at European Union critics of his bloody anti-narcotics campaign, threatening to “slap” them.
It is the latest of the leader’s near-daily diatribe against the United States, EU and the United Nations while heaping praise on China and Russia.
“Come here and we will talk because I want to slap you,” Duterte said in a speech during celebrations of Women’s Day at the presidential palace late on Friday.
Duterte scoffed at the bloc for recommending the Philippines build “clinics around like in other countries, and give shabu, cocaine and heroin like in Holland.”
The Southeast Asian leader lashed out on the EU last week for hypocrisy and called the bloc “sons of bitches” for recommending a rehabilitation-centered solution to the drugs problem.
More than 8,000 people have been killed since Duterte took power on June 30 last year, with police taking responsibility for a third of those deaths, citing self-defense during anti-narcotics operations.
The government rejects local and international human rights groups’ allegations that police are involved in thousands of mysterious deaths.
Duterte castigated the EU for believing reports of non-government groups that tag the leader for the killings. “Even if it’s just epilepsy, they count it against me,” he said, to the laughter of the crowd.
Duterte boasted of his new-found friendship with China, which had been embroiled in a territorial spat with the Philippines before Duterte took office.
As for Russia, Duterte said he plans to make it the trade gateway for Eastern Europe.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales)
Philippines’ Duterte invites EU critics, wants to ‘slap them’
Philippines’ Duterte invites EU critics, wants to ‘slap them’
In show of support, Canada, France open consulates in Greenland
- Decisions taken in a strong show of support for Greenland government amid threats by US President Trump to seize the island
COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Canada and France, which both adamantly oppose Donald Trump’s wish to control Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Friday, in a strong show of support for the local government.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needs to control the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
The US president last month backed off his threats to seize Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss ways to meet Washington’s security concerns in the Arctic, but the details of the talks have not been made public.
While Denmark and Greenland have said they share Trump’s security concerns, they have insisted that sovereignty and territorial integrity are a “red line” in the discussions.
“In a sense, it’s a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk,” said Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland.
“There is great appreciation for the support against what Trump has said.”
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Paris’s plans to open a consulate during a visit to Nuuk in June, where he expressed Europe’s “solidarity” with Greenland and criticized Trump’s ambitions.
The newly-appointed French consul, Jean-Noel Poirier, has previously served as ambassador to Vietnam.
Canada meanwhile announced in late 2024 that it would open a consulate in Greenland to boost cooperation.
The opening of the consulates is “a way of telling Donald Trump that his aggression against Greenland and Denmark is not a question for Greenland and Denmark alone, it’s also a question for European allies and also for Canada as an ally, as a friend of Greenland and the European allies also,” Ulrik Pram Gad, Arctic expert at the Danish Institute of International Studies, told AFP.
“It’s a small step, part of a strategy where we are making this problem European,” said Christine Nissen, security and defense analyst at the Europa think tank.
“The consequences are obviously not just Danish. It’s European and global.”
Recognition
According to Strandsbjerg, the two consulates — which will be attached to the French and Canadian embassies in Copenhagen — will give Greenland an opportunity to “practice” at being independent, as the island has long dreamt of cutting its ties to Denmark one day.
The decision to open diplomatic missions is also a recognition of Greenland’s growing autonomy, laid out in its 2009 Self-Government Act, Nissen said.
“In terms of their own quest for sovereignty, the Greenlandic people will think to have more direct contact with other European countries,” she said.
That would make it possible to reduce Denmark’s role “by diversifying Greenland’s dependence on the outside world, so that it is not solely dependent on Denmark and can have more ties for its economy, trade, investments, politics and so on,” echoed Pram Gad.
Greenland has had diplomatic ties with the European Union since 1992, with Washington since 2014 and with Iceland since 2017.
Iceland opened its consulate in Nuuk in 2013, while the United States, which had a consulate in the Greenlandic capital from 1940 to 1953, reopened its mission in 2020.
The European Commission opened its office in 2024.
