Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on the 28th of January that there are red lines that should not be crossed in talks with the United States, but acknowledged that security in the region needs to be strengthened, Reuters reports.
Nielsen, along with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to gain support for US President Donald Trump’s bid to annex Greenland.
Talks are expected between Greenland, Denmark and the United States to find a solution to the US-created crisis, but Nielsen stressed, without going into detail, that Greenland has its own red lines that it will not cross. He said Greenland is under serious pressure and its people are currently scared. However, Nielsen also added that Russia’s behavior suggests a broader surveillance of the region and strengthening of security.
The US demand to transfer Greenland to its control has caused serious ripples in international relations and accelerated European efforts to reduce dependence on the Americans, although Trump has abandoned the idea of using military force and decided not to impose higher import tariffs on European countries.
Frederiksen said that the crisis has shown that most Europeans think alike and are able to unite
to confront Trump’s demands. She noted that the world order has changed irreversibly, and added that it is important for Europe to become stronger, but also called for maintaining transatlantic unity, as Russia has clearly shown that it does not want peace. “If we allow Russia to win in Ukraine, they will continue. The best way forward for the United States, Europe is to stick together,” the Danish prime minister said.
Diplomatic tensions between the United States and Denmark, both founding members of NATO, have raised concerns about the alliance’s future in recent weeks.
Half of the Arctic’s landmass is under Russian control. Since 2005, Moscow has modernized and reopened dozens of Soviet-era military bases, both on the mainland of its Arctic regions and on islands off the country’s northern coast. Russia has said that talk of Moscow and Beijing threatening Greenland is a myth created to stoke hysteria.
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