French President Emmanuel Macron criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland to the United States, during his visit to the Arctic island.
"European solidarity" with Greenland
Before heading to the G7 summit in Canada, Mr. Macron, head of the only European Union member state with a nuclear deterrent force, spent six hours in Greenland. His aim: to express "European solidarity" with the autonomous Danish territory.
Danish Prime Minister and Greenlandic Prime Minister
"I have come [to express] the solidarity of France and the European Union for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this territory, and to meet its challenges, which are those of economic growth, the climate emergency and education", declared Macron, in the presence of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the head of the Greenland government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
"That's not what allies do."
"This is not what is done between allies," said the French president, referring to American predation on the world's largest island.
A symbolic gesture
He is the first away head of state to visit the Arctic territory since Mr. Trump's annexation threats.
National security reasons
Donald Trump has expressed his intention to take control of Greenland for "national security reasons", and to do so by any means necessary, including military means.
The Pituffik base
The Pituffik base in Greenland, located on the shortest missile trajectory between Russia and the USA, is a crucial link in the US missile defense system.
Rare metals and new shipping routes
Strategically located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic, the island is rich in rare metals and new shipping routes made possible by global warming.
Pete Hegseth acknowledges annexation plans
Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed to acknowledge that the Pentagon had drawn up plans to seize Greenland by force if necessary. Hegseth, however, refused to answer repeated questions on the subject at a Congressional hearing.
Greenland "is not for sale".
Polls show that the vast majority of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants, mostly Inuit, want independence from Denmark, but do not want to become Americans, reports The Guardian. The Danish government also insists that Greenland "is not for sale".
Investigations into Greenland's independence movement
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that officials working for U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were investigating the Greenland independence movement and local opinion on U.S. resource exploitation.