The British position on the US bid to acquire the Danish island is “non-negotiable,” according to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy
British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has vowed that the UK government will not yield to pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has announced plans to impose trade tariffs on European countries that oppose his bid to acquire Greenland.
Trump claims US sovereignty over Greenland is necessary for national security and that Denmark and other European NATO members cannot defend it from a hypothetical Chinese or Russian takeover. The move has drawn varying degrees of criticism in Europe, where nations have accused Washington of undermining the military bloc.
“Our position on Greenland is non-negotiable. We’ve made that very clear. And we’ll continue to make that clear,” Nandy told Sky News on Sunday, referring to an earlier statement by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer said the island’s future “is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes” to decide and that imposing tariffs on NATO states resisting Trump’s aspirations is “completely wrong.”
Last week, several Western European and Nordic countries – including Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and the UK – sent between one and 15 troops to Greenland for a Danish-led military exercise. German personnel have already returned home, according to a military spokesperson.
The EU has also threatened to activate retaliatory measures that officials have called a “trade bazooka” in response to Trump’s tariffs. The 10% US levy on imports from eight European nations, tied to the Greenland dispute, is set to take effect on February 1 and could rise to 25% by June 1.
Earlier this month, NATO members broadly supported the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who many of Washington’s allies do not recognize as the legitimate leader of the country.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation with Greenland “extraordinary in terms of international law” but unsurprising, given Trump’s open disregard for whether other nations view his actions as legal. Moscow is monitoring developments, he added.
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