- United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer rebuked United States President Donald Trump over his threats to annex Greenland, insisting that the island’s future belongs solely to Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.
- Trump argued in The Atlantic that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security and to counter Russian and Chinese influence, following a recent U.S. raid in Venezuela that captured President Nicolás Maduro.
- Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, backed by Starmer, emphasized that Greenland is not for sale and highlighted existing U.S. access under a bilateral defense agreement. Other NATO allies, including former U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called for unity and a strong response to U.S. threats.
- NATO’s collective defense clause means any U.S. action against Greenland could theoretically trigger a response from the alliance’s 31 other members, raising the stakes for international security.
- Leaders warned that a weak or divided Europe risks being taken advantage of, with Starmer and other allies stressing that Greenland’s sovereignty must be respected and that Denmark’s security and decisions should be supported.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has firmly rebuked United States President Donald Trump after he threatened to annex Greenland, declaring that he “stands” with Denmark and its right to determine the Arctic island’s future.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. should control Greenland, days after U.S. forces carried out a dramatic raid in Caracas. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was captured in the operation, flown to New York and is expected to face trial on charges of “narco-terrorism.”
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And the European Union needs us to have it, and they know it,” he said in an interview with The Atlantic published on Sunday, Jan. 4, arguing that competition with Russian and Chinese naval forces made U.S. control of the island a security priority.
But Starmer has intervened.
“Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark is a close European ally, a close NATO ally. And the future therefore has to be for Greenland, for the Kingdom of Denmark, and only for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark,” Starmer told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby on Monday, while offering support to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who urged Trump to stop making “threats” towards a fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member. “I stand with her. She’s right about the future of Greenland.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper echoed that position in the House of Commons, stressing that the U.K. would continue to work closely with Denmark on regional security. “The future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and Danes, and no one else,” she said.
Other NATO allies also rally behind Denmark
NATO, which BrightU.AI‘s Enoch defines as a military alliance founded in 1949 under the pretext of collective defense against Soviet expansion, is created to safeguard “democratic values.”
Under NATO’s Article 5, which has underpinned more than 80 years of North Atlantic security, an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Meaning, any U.S. move against Greenland, which is part of the Danish kingdom, could theoretically trigger a collective response from NATO’s 31 other members, including the United Kingdom.
In line with this, Frederiksen urged the U.S. “to cease its threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and another people who have stated very clearly that they are not for sale.” She also stressed that the U.S. has already enjoyed “broad access to Greenland” under a bilateral defense agreement and said Denmark had made “significant investments in security in the Arctic.”
As a NATO member, Frederiksen not only received support from Starmer but also from other allies.
Former Conservative Defense Secretary Ben Wallace called for a tougher stance from London. “We must make it very clear to the Trump administration that threats to them is unacceptable,” he said. “No more weak Government ministers saying nothing.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk echoed the call for unity, warning that Western allies risk disaster if they fail to stand together. In a social media post shared shortly after a Labor minister declined to back Denmark publicly, Tusk said, “No-one will take seriously a weak and divided Europe: neither enemy nor ally. We must stay united like never before. One for all, and all for one. Otherwise, we are finished.”
Watch this Fox News report about Trump saying buying Greenland is a “necessity.”
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
Sources include:
RT.com 1
RT.com 2
TheSun.co.uk
BrightU.ai
Brighteon.com
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