Scandinavian countries circled the wagons on Sunday and took a defiant posture against President Donald Trump’s continued threats to capture Greenland by force if Denmark refused to make a deal and sell its territory to the US.
Speaking at the “People and Defense” Annual Conference hosted by his country, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson lamented Trump’s “threatening rhetoric” and promised that “Sweden, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, and several major European countries stand together with our Danish friends.”
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
He went on to say that a US takeover of Greenland would be “a violation of international law and risks encouraging other countries to act in exactly the same way”.
Also attending the defense symposium in Sweden was Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and a General in the US Air Force, who delivered an address there about threats to the Alliance’s security in the Arctic.
“When I look around the globe, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and others are increasing their collaboration and cooperation as their interests align against us,” Grynkewich said, underscoring the activity of Russian and Chinese vessels seen patrolling together on Russia’s northern coast and near Alaska and Canada.
“They are not studying seals and polar bears. They are conducting bathymetric surveys—trying to understand how to counter NATO capabilities on and under the sea,” he said.
Other Topics of Interest
‘Whether They Like It or Not’ – Trump Revives Threat of US Control Over Greenland
The US president says Washington may have to act to keep China and Russia out of the Arctic – alarming allies and former officials who warn it could shatter NATO.
However, the NATO general said he would not comment on “the political dimensions of recent rhetoric” but talks on Greenland were being held at the North Atlantic Council.
“Those dialogues continue in Brussels. They have been healthy dialogues from what I’ve heard,” the general told he conference, adding, “I don’t think there’s an immediate threat to NATO territory right now.”
Speaking in Iceland before meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadehpul struck a mediational tone as he gave an address the “strategic challenges of the Far North”.
“Security in the arctic is becoming more and more important” and “is part of our common interest in NATO”, he said at a joint news conference with Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir.
“If the American president is looking at what threats might come from Russian or Chinese ships or submarines in the region, we can of course find answers to that together,” he added.
The US already operates military outposts on the world’s largest island, on land leased from the Greenlandic government.
Asked about a possible strengthening of NATO’s commitment in the Arctic, Wadephul said Germany was “ready to assume greater responsibilities” there.
Also attending the event in Iceland was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who was resolute that her country faces a “decisive moment” in its “conflict over Greenland” with the United States.
On social media after the meetings on Sunday, Frederiksen posted that “We are ready to defend our values wherever it is necessary, also in the Arctic. We believe in international law and in peoples’ right to self-determination.”