PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (Jan 28) a standoff with the United States over Greenland was “a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe”, speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.
European powers have sought to join forces to show they can stand on their own feet after US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize Greenland.
Speaking alongside the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron said the “awakening” must focus “on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on the fight against foreign interference and disinformation, and on the fight against global warming”.
He reaffirmed to Frederiksen and Nielsen France’s solidarity and “its commitment to your sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter,” he added, expressing his support for increased NATO engagement in the Arctic.
Macron said some words in the Indigenous Greenlandic language, and then, switching to the Danish language, told the premier France would “be side-by-side” with the “Kingdom of Denmark”.
After European pushback, Trump backed down on the threat to take Greenland by military force.