Denmark’s Prime Minister, 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 “undermining 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 previously said Washington would get the territory “the easy way” or “the hard way”.
He has not ruled out use of force, which has drawn widespread criticism.
The new tariffs on imports, would be imposed on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK, Trump said on Saturday.
Read also:
- China announces record $1tn trade surplus despite Trump tariffs
- Latest transfer gossip across Europe as deadline day looms
- “It’s time for new leadership in Iran,” Trump declares, says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign is over
He said an initial 10% tariff would come into force on February 1 “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.
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.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer said the threat of tariffs was “completely wrong”.
Sir Keir, who so far has maintained a strong relationship with Trump, said the UK would be pursuing the matter directly with the White House.
