00:00No more pressure, no more insinuations, no more fantasies of annexation.
00:09The Prime Minister of Greenland is pleading with the US to stop making territorial threats over the island
00:14as Washington's military intervention in Venezuela reignites fears for the autonomous Danish territory.
00:21Donald Trump is once again claiming that the mineral-rich Arctic island needs to come under American control
00:27as an issue of national security, prompting Copenhagen to warn that the US president should be taken seriously.
00:35Emerald Maxwell has the latest.
00:39As the Trump administration appeared to warm to the idea of annexing Greenland,
00:44the Danish Prime Minister sharpened her rhetoric.
00:47We saw the US take control of Venezuela in just a few hours.
00:53What will Denmark do if the Americans do something similar?
00:56Well, if the US chooses to attack another NATO country, then everything stops.
01:03I can't account for what the Americans do, but I can account for what we do from the Danish and European side.
01:09And of course, there is full support from the rest of Europe when it comes to the Kingdom and the Danish realm,
01:14that the borders must, of course, be respected.
01:16The diplomatic spat between the two NATO allies was reopened by this tweet of Greenland,
01:24filled in with the US flag and the word soon.
01:27The image was posted by the wife of the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.
01:31But on Sunday, Donald Trump doubled down on the theme.
01:34Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.
01:40We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.
01:45And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.
01:48Semi-autonomous Greenland is on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States,
01:54and Washington has a military base there.
01:56The Arctic territory is also rich in rare earth minerals.
02:01Denmark says it's already working with Washington to boost security in the Arctic.
02:06And Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, has also told Trump to back off.
02:13For more on what's at stake for Greenland, let's bring in Frederik Mauro,
02:17lawyer and specialist in defence matters and associate researcher at the IORIS.
02:22Thanks so much for being with us on the programme, Frederik.
02:26First of all, after what we've seen in Venezuela this weekend,
02:30how real is the risk that Donald Trump might attempt to annex Greenland?
02:35The Prime Minister there saying they're actually preparing for the possibility
02:38that it could happen overnight, as they put it.
02:42Yeah, the short answer is we don't know.
02:45We should stop trying to understand the acts of Donald Trump
02:52because its main strength is in coherence.
02:57So we should not take it as granted.
03:01It can be a bluff or it can be a commitment.
03:04The willingness from the US to acquire Greenland is very old.
03:12It goes back to 1867.
03:13There have been several attempts to acquire Greenland.
03:24But now it's really something.
03:28And the union, first of all, we should recall that the union as such
03:34has no power in foreign affairs.
03:38So it's, first of all, a matter of foreign affairs in the hands of the member states.
03:44So first of all, it's to Denmark to say exactly what he wants.
03:50But for sure, if the US would attack, that would be the end,
03:57like the Danish Prime Minister of Denmark said.
04:02That would be the end of NATO and probably a big, big failure between the EU and the US.
04:10Yeah, because how would NATO be likely to react to such a move if Donald Trump were to move on Greenland?
04:18Well, that nobody knows, because formally it would be an attack against one member.
04:25But the reaction should escalate to the NAC, the NATO Atlantic Council.
04:34But the main ally, the main power in NATO is the US.
04:40So what happens if the main ally becomes the main hostile?
04:46Nobody knows.
04:47It's something that even in sci-fi we did not expect.
04:53And for Donald Trump, do you think then that any potential economic gains would be worth the breach with a NATO ally?
05:01He's been critical previously of the alliance.
05:04And how expensive would it be, do you think, for the US to exploit the natural resources on the island?
05:13Well, that makes sense from a US point of view,
05:18because after the takeover of the Venezuelan oil reserves,
05:24taking the hand on the rare earth of the Greenland would make sense.
05:34I think that Donald Trump would be tempted to do it if it's fast,
05:41if he's dominant, and if the whole action is containable.
05:46If the European member states show a resolve in defending Greenland,
05:56that will complexify the calculus for Donald Trump.
05:59So maybe they should really think about making some action of resolve to be firm
06:12and to not to allow hostile takeover of the Greenland.
06:17But how do you think that European leaders would actually respond if that were to happen?
06:21Would they be prepared to actually take a stand?
06:24Because many, including the British Prime Minister,
06:26they appear eager at the moment to play a balancing act over the situation in Venezuela.
06:31Would it be very different if this were Greenland?
06:34To be frank, they are working on eggshells because for the moment their main preoccupation,
06:43their main security concern is not Greenland, is Ukraine, of course,
06:49because they think that they are threatened by Russia.
06:52And the problem is that they need absolutely the US to contain Russia.
06:59And that is exactly the reason why they capitulated on the trade war with the US,
07:07which they should not have done,
07:10because they are as strong as the US with regards to trade.
07:15But with regard to security, that will be very complicated.
07:19So they should react very firmly, maybe recalling their ambassadors very, very strongly, I think.
07:32That would be my advice.
07:34And, Frederick, do you think that the manner, sorry for cutting across you,
07:38do you believe that the manner in which European leaders are reacting and responding
07:41to what's happening in Venezuela,
07:43will that embolden Donald Trump to perhaps think more seriously about moving on Greenland?
07:49Not at the moment.
07:51The short answer is not at the moment.
07:53Few leaders have been very, very firm.
07:58The French president has been a little bit ambiguous about it.
08:05Ursula von der Leyen has no power on foreign affairs.
08:10The German chancellor, Merz, was very ambiguous about it.
08:16It said, oh, Venezuela is a complex legal affair that we must investigate.
08:24That is not a clear answer.
08:26And the British prime minister said that he will have to consult the allies.
08:32So that is not a clear answer.
08:34Not to mention the leaders that want to play their home game,
08:40like the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, or Victor Orban,
08:47who want to be Donald Trump's best friend forever.
08:51So that is really complicated.
08:53The only solution for the Europeans is to keep calm and stay united.
08:59Is there a union that will deter Donald Trump to do anything against Greenland?
09:07If we leave Denmark alone, that will be done.
09:11He will do something, obviously.
09:14But European leaders must be much, much more vocal on defending the European territory,
09:24if not the union's territory.
09:27And, Frederick, when Trump threatens Greenland like this,
09:29do you think he's sending a message to Europe, though?
09:31Or are these comments more about sending a warning to China and Russia,
09:36who he mentioned again at the weekend saying Greenland was covered with Russian and Chinese ships?
09:43No, I think that that is mainly addressed to the Europeans.
09:47He is preparing the, as we say in French, he is preparing the land for intervention,
09:58as exactly as he did with Venezuela.
10:02All his actions can be performative or threatening or escalating,
10:13all that in the same time.
10:14It is very, very ambiguous.
10:19Once again, its main strength is in coherence.
10:24Nobody should, we should stop asking what is the Trump doctrine.
10:28There is nothing such as the Donald Trump doctrine.
10:31Maybe there are people around him that have a doctrine,
10:35and maybe this doctrine is age-long in the history of the U.S.
10:42But he has not any doctrine.
10:46He is like a shark.
10:50He is flaring the weakness of his adversary.
10:56So, once again, if he can go fast, and if he can contain the action,
11:03if he is sure to be dominant to take over the Greenland, he will do it.
11:08Exactly like Putin.
11:09He is exactly the same kind of animal than Vladimir Putin.
11:15Frederick, we'll have to leave it there for now.
11:16Thanks so much for being with us, though, on the program.
11:19That is Lawyer and Specialist in Defence Matters,
11:22Frederick Marrow.
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