COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed remarks about taking control of Greenland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland — which is an autonomous Danish territory — under US control.
“Of course we can’t have a world order where countries, if they’re big enough, no matter what they’re called, can just help themselves to what they want,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday.
While he didn’t mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
“Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump responded.
“I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.
Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech, but added that the “rhetoric” was the same.
“It doesn’t make me call off any crisis, because he said other things about expanding the American territory,” Lokke told Danish media.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has insisted “that Greenland is not for sale” but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
Among Danes, the omission of Greenland in the inauguration speech led to some relief.
“He didn’t mention Greenland or Denmark in his speech last night, so I think there’s room for diplomacy,” 68-year-old actor Donald Andersen told AFP.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to “navigate a new reality.”
While noting the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US — which she described as Denmark’s most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
“We have to recognize that the next four years will be difficult years,” Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.
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Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
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Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
- “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump said
- Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech
EU leaders gather to discuss a massive loan to Ukraine
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders are gathering Thursday for a summit aimed at agreeing on a massive loan to cover Ukraine’s military and other financial needs for the next two years.
The leaders will also discuss migration, the bloc’s enlargement policy, trade and economies, but working out how to fund most of the 137 billion euros ($160 billion) the International Monetary Fund says war-ravaged Ukraine needs is top priority.
“It is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine’s fight. We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on the eve of the summit.
European Council President António Costa, who is chairing Thursday’s meeting in Brussels, has vowed to keep leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.
Many leaders will press for tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets held in Europe to be used to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs.
Such a decision has never been made before, and it comes with risks. The European Central Bank has warned that if Europeans appear willing to grab other countries’ money, it could undermine confidence in the euro. Some member nations are also concerned about inviting retaliation from Russia.
Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held at a financial clearing house, is the main opponent of the plan. It fears that Russia will strike back and would prefer that the bloc borrow the money on international markets.
Last week, the Russian Central Bank sued the Belgian clearing house Euroclear in a Moscow court, raising pressure on Belgium and its European partners ahead of the summit.
Hungary and Slovakia oppose von der Leyen’s plan for a “reparations loan.” Some 90 billion euros ($105 billion) would be lent to Ukraine until Russia ends its war and pays for the damage it has caused over almost four years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that totals more than 600 billion euros ($700 billion).
The UK, Canada and Norway would fill the gap beyond the 90 billion euros ($105 billion).
Bulgaria, Italy and Malta also remain to be convinced. In recent weeks, EU envoys have worked to flesh out the details and narrow differences among the 27 member countries. If enough countries object, the plan could be blocked. There is no majority support for a plan B of raising the funds on international markets.
The leaders will also discuss migration, the bloc’s enlargement policy, trade and economies, but working out how to fund most of the 137 billion euros ($160 billion) the International Monetary Fund says war-ravaged Ukraine needs is top priority.
“It is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine’s fight. We know the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on the eve of the summit.
European Council President António Costa, who is chairing Thursday’s meeting in Brussels, has vowed to keep leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.
Many leaders will press for tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets held in Europe to be used to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs.
Such a decision has never been made before, and it comes with risks. The European Central Bank has warned that if Europeans appear willing to grab other countries’ money, it could undermine confidence in the euro. Some member nations are also concerned about inviting retaliation from Russia.
Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held at a financial clearing house, is the main opponent of the plan. It fears that Russia will strike back and would prefer that the bloc borrow the money on international markets.
Last week, the Russian Central Bank sued the Belgian clearing house Euroclear in a Moscow court, raising pressure on Belgium and its European partners ahead of the summit.
Hungary and Slovakia oppose von der Leyen’s plan for a “reparations loan.” Some 90 billion euros ($105 billion) would be lent to Ukraine until Russia ends its war and pays for the damage it has caused over almost four years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that totals more than 600 billion euros ($700 billion).
The UK, Canada and Norway would fill the gap beyond the 90 billion euros ($105 billion).
Bulgaria, Italy and Malta also remain to be convinced. In recent weeks, EU envoys have worked to flesh out the details and narrow differences among the 27 member countries. If enough countries object, the plan could be blocked. There is no majority support for a plan B of raising the funds on international markets.
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