European officials have warned Donald Trump not to threaten “sovereign borders” after the US president-elect did not rule out military action to occupy Greenland.
Wednesday’s rebuke was led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said the principle of inviolability of borders applies to all countries, no matter how powerful.
He added that President Trump’s comments the day before had caused “significant incomprehension” among other European Union leaders he met with.
“Borders must not be moved by force. This principle applies to all countries, East and West,” Scholz later wrote of X.
“In consultation with our European partners, we are concerned about recent statements from the United States. It is clear that we must come together.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault also said Wednesday that Greenland is “European territory” and that he doubts “the EU would allow any other country in the world, whoever it may be… to attack its sovereign borders.” There is no room for that.”
Meanwhile, EU officials have largely tried to avoid wading into the quagmire, with a spokesperson telling reporters that Greenland has a mutual defense clause that obliges member states to come to each other’s aid if attacked. acknowledged that it was applied.
“But we are certainly talking about something very theoretical, so I don’t want to go into details,” said European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho.
“We need Greenland.”
The unrest came after President Trump on Tuesday reiterated the United States’ desire to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Latin America’s main waterway, to which the United States transferred control to Panama in 1999.
Asked by reporters if he would rule out using military force or economic coercion to gain control, Trump said: “I’m not going to commit to that.”
“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” Trump said later, nodding to Greenland’s strategic location in the Arctic region, which Russia, China and the United States have contested control of in recent years.
French government spokeswoman Sophie Primus warned reporters Wednesday that there was “a certain kind of imperialism” in President Trump’s comments.
“Today we are seeing the rise of blocs, which can be seen as a form of imperialism, embodied in Mr. Trump’s statements about the annexation of entire territories,” she said. Ta.
“Now more than ever, we and our European partners need to step out of a certain kind of naivety and be conscious of protecting and rearming ourselves,” she added.
Meanwhile, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Brupp Egede has not taken into account the US president-elect’s recent comments. However, Mr Muth, who supports full independence from Denmark, has opposed Mr Trump’s past bids to buy the island.
Meanwhile, Danish officials struck a more conciliatory tone than their European counterparts.
Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen said Copenhagen was “ready to dialogue with the United States on how we can work together, perhaps even more closely than ever, to ensure that America’s ambitions are realized.”
However, he also ruled out the possibility of the island becoming part of the United States.
“Mexican America”
Europeans are not the only ones unsettled by the far-reaching expansionist vision of President Trump, who takes office on January 20th.
On Wednesday, Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc criticized the president-elect for repeatedly saying he aims to make Canada the “51st” province. On Wednesday, President Trump said he was prepared to use economic coercion to make that happen.
“The joke is over,” said LeBlanc, head of U.S.-Canada relations.
“I think for him this was a way to sow chaos, incite people and create chaos, even though he knew it was never going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Mexico has complied with President Trump’s desire to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed that all of North America, including the United States, be renamed “Mexican America,” citing the historical name used on early maps of the region.
“Mexican-American, that’s great,” Sheinbaum chided.
