European leaders on Sunday slammed US President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland, warning transatlantic ties were at risk.
European nations including Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, said they “stand united” against Trump’s vow on Saturday to hit them with tariffs of up to 25 percent unless Greenland is ceded to the US.
“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden said in a joint statement.
Photo: AFP
Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Trump’s ultimatum threatened the world order “as we know it” and the future of the NATO military alliance.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that he had spoken to Trump about “the security situation in Greenland” and the arctic and hoped to talk again at this week’s Davos summit. He did not elaborate on their conversation.
The European Council said it was calling a summit of EU leaders in the coming days, following a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Sunday.
The bloc clinched a deal with Washington in July last year for most EU exports to face a 15 percent US levy. It was unclear how Trump’s threatened tariffs would work against that deal.
“I don’t believe that this agreement is possible in the current situation,” German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul told ARD television.
Aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said he would ask the EU to activate a never-before-used “anti-coercion instrument” against Washington if Trump makes good on his additional tariffs.
The measure allows for curbing imports of goods and services into the EU, a market of 27 nations with a combined population of 450 million.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to seize Greenland since returning to the White House for a second term.
His rhetoric toward that goal has hardened since he ordered a military operation to capture then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Trump and his administration have argued that Greenland coming under US rule would serve US “national security.”
He and his aides have also argued that Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would be unable to defend Greenland should Russia or China ever seek to invade.
Denmark and several of its European NATO allies responded by sending military personnel to Greenland for an exercise, to which the US was also invited.
Thousands in Greenland and Denmark on Saturday protested against the US push to control the arctic island.
“Make America Go Away” read the wording on caps worn by many demonstrators, riffing on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Trump responded with his threat to slap goods coming into the US from Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland with 10 percent tariffs starting on Feb. 1.
They would rise to 25 percent from June 1 “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump wrote on social media.
Even Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump’s closest European allies, baulked at the threat.
“I believe that imposing new sanctions today would be a mistake,” she told journalists during a trip to Seoul. “I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I think.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “completely wrong,” and said that he planned to discuss the situation with Trump “at the earliest opportunity.”
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs David van Weel denounced Trump’s threat as an “inexplicable” form of “blackmail.”
French Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Annie Genevard warned that tariffs would hurt Washington, too.
“In this escalation of tariffs, [Trump] has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists,” she told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews.
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