00:00Joining me from the World Economic Forum in Davos is Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister
00:13Maxime Prevost. He took on his role one year ago and it's been marked by major geopolitical
00:20uncertainty and shifting power dynamics. Minister, welcome and thank you for joining us.
00:28Thank you. The World Economic Forum is taking place this year as the United States ramping up
00:34Russian rhetoric regarding possibly Washington taking control over Greenland and all the threats
00:39to Denmark. Donald Trump is in town here in Davos, expected also to meet the European leaders.
00:45What's Belgium's strategy when it comes to protecting Greenland and supporting Denmark?
00:49We absolutely need to be united on this issue. Frankly speaking, the attitude of the US is
00:55uncomprehensible and unnecessarily hostile. If they have concerns because maybe they have
01:05identified some threats in the region of the Arctic, okay, we are able to understand that
01:13and maybe we will discuss together in order to address those fears, those threats. And it already exists today, a partnership, an agreement between the US and Denmark in order to allow the US to deploy armed forces on Greenland if necessary.
01:35They only have one military basis today. It is possible to have more in the future according to the current agreement. So it's not necessary to take on an aggressive manner, an hostile one, any square kilometers of Greenland. It is really a red line for the European countries.
01:55But how do you explain in this case why the United States and the US administration is not listening to this argument coming from Europe, from the European allies, NATO allies?
02:05There is no rational explanation, frankly speaking. It is possible to address together those potential threats in the Arctic region.
02:15So let's do it. But having some blackmail, some threats against allies within the NATO family, this is totally unacceptable. So we will take the opportunity of the Davos meeting in order to share this message.
02:37Thank you very much.
02:38Thank you very much.
02:39Thank you very much. The King of the Belgians and my Prime Minister will have a meeting with President Trump. And I hope that it will be possible in the coming days and weeks to go back to a more reasonable way of thinking and acting.
02:52I think it's crucial. It's not only a crisis. It's really a turning point. And when you face a turning point, it demands action and certainly not hesitation.
03:05It is exciting. It prevents action while kissing. And the threats, in some major
03:26at the concert, that the fact that some European countries have sent soldiers to Greenland
03:32is a kind of anti-American act.
03:36It is the opposite.
03:37It is the manner to demonstrate that we intend to take into account, on a better manner than
03:45in the past, the different fears expressed by the US, and that the NATO allies, and especially
03:54the European countries, have really the intention to take into account those fears and to secure
04:02in a better way the Arctic region in the future.
04:05Donald Trump started making the statements regarding Greenland on his first term since
04:092019, and the European Union really engaged in the diplomatic dialogue ever since.
04:14It's why we absolutely need to take into account this moment, and we cannot in Europe
04:24we can no longer depend blindly on the security provided by the US.
04:32We have a date with ourselves, and we absolutely need to develop our autonomic strategy on military
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