BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Several European leaders pushed back Tuesday on U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s comments seeking an American takeover of Greenland.<\/b>
\nSeveral European leaders pushed back Tuesday on U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s comments seeking an American takeover of Greenland.
The leaders issued a statement reaffirming the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island \u201cbelongs to its people.\u201d
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in defending Greenland\u2019s sovereignty in the wake of Trump\u2019s comments about Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of the kingdom of Denmark and thus part of the NATO military alliance.
\u201cGreenland belongs to its people,\u201d the statement said. \u201cIt is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.\u201d
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said Monday that Greenland should be part of the United States in spite of a warning by Frederiksen that a U.S. takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO.
\u201cThe president has been clear for months now that the United States should be the nation that has Greenland as part of our overall security apparatus,\u201d Miller said during an interview with CNN Monday afternoon.
His comments came after the Danish leader, together with Greenland\u2019s prime minister and other European leaders, firmly rejected Trump\u2019s renewed call for the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island to come under U.S. control in the aftermath of the weekend U.S. military operation in Venezuela.
Trump has argued the U.S. needs to control Greenland to ensure the security of the NATO territory in the face of rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.
\u201cIt\u2019s so strategic right now,\u201d he told reporters Sunday.
\u201cGreenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.
Miller wondered during his interview Monday whether Denmark can assert control over Greenland.
\u201cWhat is the basis of their territorial claim,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWhat is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?\u201d
However, it was not necessary to consider whether the U.S. administration was contemplating an armed intervention, he said.
\u201cThere is no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you are asking, of a military operation. Nobody is going to fight the U.S. militarily over the future of Greenland,\u201d he said.
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