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Denmark: Sovereignty Not Negotiable 01/22 06:26
Denmark's prime minister insisted that her country can't negotiate on its
sovereignty on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he agreed a
"framework of a future deal" on Arctic security with the head of NATO.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Denmark's prime minister insisted that her
country can't negotiate on its sovereignty on Thursday after U.S. President
Donald Trump said he agreed a "framework of a future deal" on Arctic security
with the head of NATO.
Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose
on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a
semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal hours
after he insisted he wanted to get the island "including right, title and
ownership" -- though he also said he would not use force.
He said "additional discussions" on Greenland were being held concerning the
Golden Dome missile defense program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that
for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space. Trump offered few details,
saying they were still being worked out.
NATO said its secretary general, Mark Rutte, hadn't proposed any compromise
to Danish sovereignty.
Denmark insists on territorial integrity
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said security in the Arctic is a
matter for all of NATO, and it is "good and natural" that it be discussed
between the U.S. president and Rutte. She said in a statement that she had
spoken with Rutte "on an ongoing basis," including before and after he met
Trump in Davos.
She wrote that NATO is fully aware of the kingdom of Denmark's position that
anything political can be negotiated on, including security, investment and
economic issues -- "but we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty."
"I have been informed that this has not been the case," she said, adding
that only Denmark and Greenland can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark
and Greenland.
Frederiksen said that Denmark wants to continue engaging in constructive
dialogue with allies on how to strengthen security in the Arctic, including the
U.S. Golden Dome program, "provided that this is done with respect for our
territorial integrity."
Asked in an interview with Fox News whether Greenland would remain part of
the kingdom of Denmark under the framework deal Trump announced, Rutte replied
that "that issue did not come up anymore in my conversations tonight with the
president."
"He's very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that huge
Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese
and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect it," he said. "That
was really the focus of our discussions."
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said Thursday that Rutte "did not propose any
compromise to sovereignty during his meeting with President Trump." She said
that negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. "will go forward
aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold - economically or
militarily - in Greenland."
Christan Friis Bach, the chair of the Danish parliament's foreign policy
committee, told The Associated Press that Denmark wants to see a "consolidated
and permanent" NATO surveillance and security mission in the Arctic, along the
lines of the Baltic Sentry mission the alliance launched in the Baltic Sea last
year.
Welcome and skepticism for Trump's switch
On the streets of Copenhagen, some were skeptical about Trump's switch.
"I think the man has said many things and done a lot of different things to
what he says," said Louise Pedersen, 22, who works with a startup company. "I
have a hard time believing it. I think it's terrifying that we stand here in
2026."
She said it's for Greenlanders to decide what happens with their land --
"not Donald Trump."
"I don't really trust anything Mr. Trump is saying," said Poul Bjoern
Strand, 70, an advertising worker.
On the possibility of ceding territory, he said: "That's not what the
Greenlanders want, that's not what the Danish people want, and ... I cannot
believe that Danes are going to follow that."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, one of the European countries that had
faced Trump's threat of tariffs over Greenland, underlined the need for
European NATO allies to do more to secure the Arctic region and stressed that
it is "a common trans-Atlantic interest."
"We will protect Denmark, Greenland, the north from the threat posed by
Russia," he said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. "We
will uphold the principles on which the trans-Atlantic partnership is founded,
namely sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"We support talks between Denmark, Greenland (and) the United States on the
basis of these principles," aiming for closer cooperation, Merz said. "It is
good news that we are making steps into that right direction. I welcome
President Trump's remarks from last night -- this is the right way to go."
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