ST BLAZEY, England: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth hosted a reception for the leaders of some of the world’s richest nations on Friday, taking center stage amid three days of talks for the Group of Seven nations’ premiers.
The 95-year-old monarch was joined by the other most senior members of the British royal family with son and heir Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and grandson Prince William and his wife Kate also present.
It was their first major public event together since the funeral for the queen’s husband of more than seven decades, Prince Philip, in April.
At the reception, held at the Eden Project, the world’s largest indoor rainforest, the queen met Joe Biden as US President for the first time, making him the 13th American leader she has met during her record-breaking 69 year reign.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth hosts Biden at G7 reception
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth hosts Biden at G7 reception
- The 95-year-old monarch was joined by the other most senior members of the British royal family
- It was their first major public event together since the funeral for the queen’s husband
Danish PM backs NATO ‘permanent presence’ around Greenland
- “We have asked NATO to be more present in the Arctic region,” Frederiksen said
- She said discussions about Denmark’s sovereignty were off the table
BRUSSELS: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Thursday that NATO states backed having a “permanent presence” in the Arctic, including around Greenland, after US President Donald Trump claimed a framework deal was struck to satisfy his demands.
“We have asked NATO to be more present in the Arctic region,” Frederiksen said at the start of a European Union summit in Brussels.
“Everybody in NATO agrees about that, the Arctic states, but also other member states, that we need a permanent presence from NATO in the Arctic region, including around Greenland.”
Trump on Wednesday backed down from the threat of using force or tariffs to try to take over Greenland, after saying an agreement was reached in talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Details remained scant of the accord — but Trump did not make any progress toward his goal of trying to gain control over the autonomous Arctic territory of fellow NATO member Denmark.
Frederiksen said discussions about Denmark’s sovereignty were off the table. “It cannot be changed,” she said.
NATO said following the talks that the alliance would ramp up security in the Arctic, after Trump used the perceived threat from Russia and China to justify his desire for Greenland.
A source familiar with the discussions said Denmark and the United States would also look to renegotiate a 1951 defense pact on Greenland that governs American troop deployments on the island.
“We said to the Americans a year ago that we can discuss our agreement on defense, but it has to be in the framework of us as a sovereign state,” Frederiksen said.
The Danish leader insisted the two sides “have to work together respectfully, without threatening each other.”
“I, of course, hope to find a political solution within the framework of democracy and how we cooperate as allies,” she said.
