France is ready to conduct joint exercises to strengthen security in Greenland, a Danish territory claimed by US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Nuuk, the capital and most populous city of Greenland, on Sunday.
Macron also proposed opening a French consulate in Greenland to show that Greenlanders “are not alone.”
“The situation in Greenland is a clear wake-up call for all Europeans,” Macron said. According to him, Greenland “must not be sold or seized,” and the annexation of Greenland by the United States would be a “crazy” scenario. The French president called for joint exercises in the Arctic region, including the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Macron also said he would raise the issue of Greenland with Trump at the G7 summit.
Macron and Trump will meet at the G7 summit in Canada, which begins on Monday. The leaders are expected to discuss conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as make a statement on critical minerals, which are found in Greenland. Earlier this year, Macron called on American scientists affected by spending cuts in the US to move to Europe. A week ago, he said that Greenland, the Arctic and the deep seas were “not for sale.”
Trump and Greenland
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, but in 2009 it gained autonomy with the possibility of self-government. Trump first announced his desire to buy Greenland during his first term as president. Back then, in 2019, he offered to buy the island for $600 million.
After returning to the White House, Trump approached Denmark and demanded that it hand over Greenland, which, according to him, is necessary for Washington for the sake of US national security and to “protect the free world” from China and Russia. “We will get Greenland. Yes, 100%,” he said in March in an interview with NBC News.
