US threats over Greenland make NATO pointless – member-state PM

Denmark could count on the “solidarity of the whole of Europe” in the standoff with the US, Polish PM Donald Tusk has claimed

NATO would end up losing its “meaning” if conflicts break out within the bloc, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said, condemning Washington’s renewed interest in taking Greenland from Denmark.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Tusk voiced his support for Denmark in the reinvigorated row between the NATO member state and the bloc’s leader, the US. Washington reiterated its aspirations to get the island under its control, citing national security interests and the need to “protect” the Arctic.

“No ‌member should attack or threaten another member of the North Atlantic Treaty. Otherwise, ‌NATO would ⁠lose its meaning if conflict or mutual conflicts occurred ‌within the alliance,” Tusk stated.

While Denmark could “count on the solidarity of the whole of Europe,” the bloc’s members must “ensure that transatlantic ties, which are the foundation of NATO and our security, do not suffer in the coming days and months,” Tusk added. The remarks come as Poland, alongside Denmark, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, made a joint statement on the Greenland issue.

The group argued that “security in the Arctic” must be “achieved collectively” by NATO while recognizing the US as an “essential partner in this endeavor.”

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the statement reads.

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In the aftermath of its operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the US again declared its aim to seize Greenland from Denmark, with the incident sending global shockwaves.

Speaking to The Atlantic in an interview published on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said that the US should control the Arctic island given its strategic location, citing purported competition with the Russian and Chinese navies. “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” Trump stated.

Both Danish and Greenlandic authorities have rejected Washington’s renewed claims to the island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen urged the US to stop threatening its “historically close ally,” warning the potential attack on her country would effectively end NATO.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen slammed Trump’s “superpower rhetoric” as “unacceptable” and “insulting.”

“No more fantasies of annexation,” he wrote on Facebook on Monday.