Prime Minister of Denmark’ Mette Frederiksen, has said “Europe won’t be blackmailed” by Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland.
The US president has said he will impose a new 10% levy on goods from eight allied nations if they oppose his proposed takeover of the autonomous Danish territory.
Frederiksen and other European leaders issued a joint statement on Sunday saying the tariffs risked “undermin[ing] transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral”.
On Monday, Trump said Nato had been “telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”
Trump insists Greenland is critical for US security and has not ruled out taking it by force – a move that has drawn widespread criticism.
The new tariffs would be imposed on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Trump has said an initial 10% tariff would come into force on 1 February “on any and all goods” sent to the US, but could rise to 25% in June.
The levies would “be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”, he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
In their joint statement, the leaders of those eight countries reiterated their “full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland”.
They also stressed their commitment to “strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest” as members of the Nato military alliance.
“We stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind,” the statement reads.
Separately, Frederiksen wrote on Facebook: “We want to cooperate and we are not the ones seeking conflict. And I am happy for the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed.”
“It is all the more important that we stand firm on the fundamental values that created the European community.”
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he had had phone calls on Sunday with Frederiksen, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, before speaking to Trump.
