NICOSIA: The European Union will support Greenland and Denmark when needed and will not accept violations of international law no matter where they occur, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Wednesday.
“On Greenland, allow me to be clear: Greenland belongs to its people. Nothing can be decided about Denmark and about Greenland without Denmark, or without Greenland,” Costa said in a speech marking the assumption by Cyprus of the rotating presidency of the EU.
“They have the full support and solidarity of the European Union,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has repeated in recent days that he wants to gain control of Greenland, as he argues the island is key for US military strategy and claims Denmark has not done enough to protect it.
Costa said Cyprus was taking the helm of the EU Council at a time when the international rules-based order was under attack, and urged EU member states to stand up against these developments.
“The European Union cannot accept violations of international law — whether in Cyprus, Latin America, Greenland, Ukraine or Gaza,” Costa said.
“Europe will remain a firm and unwavering champion of international law and multilateralism.”
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Greenland belongs to its people and has full EU support, EU’s Costa says
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Greenland belongs to its people and has full EU support, EU’s Costa says
- “They have the full support and solidarity of the European Union,” Costa said
Suspected Russia shadow tanker anchored off French coast
MARTIGUES: An oil tanker seized by France in the Mediterranean and suspected of being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” lay anchored Sunday near a southern French port and guarded by the French navy.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
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