Germany, France back Denmark over Greenland against the US

Germany and France have pledged to support Denmark against the United States in the dispute over Greenland.

During a short visit by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen yesterday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that they insist on the territorial sovereignty of all states.

Frederiksen said her talks with Macron in Paris and Scholz in Berlin had gone ‘incredibly well’ and that it was ‘absolutely crucial’ that Europe stand together on Greenland.

‘I don’t go around making speeches, I don’t need to,’ Frederiksen said. ‘But I am defending Denmark’s interests, and I am doing it very decisively at the moment,’ Frederiksen said.

Frederiksen said that territories and the sovereignty of states must be respected, pointing out that this is ‘an absolutely crucial cornerstone of the international world order’ that has been built since World War II.

The German Chancellor and other senior European officials speaking in private also emphasised this point. ‘The inviolability of borders is a fundamental principle of international law. By invading Ukraine, Russia has violated this principle and thereby undermined the peace order in Europe. This principle must apply to everyone,’ he said.

Scholz warned that ‘borders must not be changed by force’.

In addition to talks with the leaders of France and Germany, Frederiksen also met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels and spoke by telephone last week with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that France had discussed with Denmark sending troops to Greenland in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Danish territory.

Asked in an interview with France’s Sud Radio about calls for EU troops to be sent to Greenland, Barrot said that France had ‘started discussing [the deployment of troops] with Denmark’ but that the idea was not ‘Denmark’s request’.

‘Europe’s borders are sovereign, north, south, east, and west… no one can play with our borders,’ the minister said, adding that France would “be there” if Denmark asked for help.

A European diplomat told POLITICO: ‘The situation is really serious, and everyone thinks that Europe’s response so far has not been very convincing. We have moved from shock and denial, now we are changing gears,’ the European diplomat told POLITICO.

Frederiksen and European Council President António Costa have had several discussions about Trump and Greenland in recent weeks. ‘We have been coordinating very closely with the Danes from the beginning everything we have or will say on Greenland,’ said a senior EU official.

‘Whatever Denmark and Greenland decide, we are fully supportive. We are ready and the Danes know that, and we are ready to reaffirm that, if necessary,’ the senior EU official said.