Kaja Kallas: US statements about Greenland are very worrying

“The reports about Greenland are very worrying”

That is what the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says at a press conference Thursday during a visit to Egypt.

“We are discussing the issue with the EU countries. Whether the threats are real, and what we should do,” says Kaja Kallas.

US President, Donald Trump, after the US intervention in Venezuela, has created deep concern in Europe by reasserting the desire to gain control over Greenland.

Most recently, US Vice President, J.D. Vance, in an interview with Fox News in the early hours of Thursday Danish time, repeated his criticism of Denmark and Europe for not having sufficiently taken care of Greenlandic and Western security.

“Greenland is crucial – not only for our national security – but for the world’s national security,” Vance tells Fox News.

“The entire infrastructure around missile defense is partly dependent on Greenland,” the vice president continues.

He then talks about a hypothetical situation in which Russia or China fires a missile at Western countries.

“I’m not saying they are going to do it. But if – God forbid – someone in the future fired a nuclear missile at our continent or Europe, then Greenland is a crucial part of that missile defense,” says Vance.

“So you ask yourself: Have the Europeans and the Danes done a proper job of securing Greenland and ensuring that it can be a crucial part of the world’s security? The answer is that they obviously have not.”

The US decision to send special forces into Venezuela to detain the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has created deep concern in Europe.

The question is whether the US will also be ready to use military or economic power to take over Greenland.

Against this grim backdrop, Denmark has received support from a number of European and Nordic countries.

Most recently on Tuesday, when the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, in a joint declaration with Denmark, stated that decisions about Greenland’s future should be made solely by Greenland and Denmark.

The European Commission has also emphasized that it stands behind the international principles of upholding countries’ territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“Denmark is a good ally for the US, and the latest statements do not help global stability,” says Kaja Kallas.

She stresses that the US, like other countries, only has the right to use military force for self-defense and to fulfill resolutions from the UN Security Council.

“The international rules are clear, and we must adhere to them. They protect smaller countries, and it is in everyone’s interest that they are upheld at all levels,” says Kaja Kallas.