EU Council President Antonio Costa said US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and impose tariffs challenge Europe’s security, principles and prosperity. EU leaders met in Brussels amid rising tensions over sovereignty and Arctic security
Protesters in Washington DC march near the White House on the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term in office, on Tuesday. Pic/Getty Images
US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and slap tariffs on its backers pose a challenge to Europe’s security, principles and prosperity, a top EU official said on Wednesday. “All these three dimensions are being tested in the current moment of transatlantic relations,” European Council President Antonio Costa said. He has convened an emergency summit of the EU’s 27 national leaders in Brussels today.
Trump’s determination to “acquire” the mineral-rich island in the Arctic region, for what he claims are security reasons, has undermined trust in the US among allies in Europe and Canada. Denmark angered Trump after sending a military “reconnaissance” force to Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. A small number of troops from several European nations joined, and Denmark is weighing a longer-term military presence there.
Costa said EU leaders are united on “the principles of international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” something the bloc has underlined in defending Ukraine against invasion by Russia, and which is now threatened in Greenland. In a speech to EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, he also stressed that only “Denmark and Greenland can decide their future.”
Trump appeared on Wednesday with other high-profile government and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a day after the elite event produced contentious statements and economic threats arising from tensions between the US and Europe. Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from 130 countries, plus an untold number of activists and observers, are expected to converge on the annual event scheduled to last through Friday.
Meanwhile, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he “would not speculate” on whether the NATO alliance has shattered beyond repair in the wake of Trump’s threats. Kristersson said Europeans are willing to beef up security in Greenland and across the Arctic but “we will not accept being blackmailed”. Sweden joined NATO in 2024.
Air Force One with trump aboard faces issue
US President Donald Trump’s plane — Air Force One — on the way to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum had to return to Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC after a “minor electrical issue” was detected onboard. Trump and his entourage subsequently boarded a new aircraft.
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