Greenland tensions ‘strategic wake-up call’ for Europe: French President Macron

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that the escalating tensions with the United States over Greenland constitute a strategic wake-up call for Europe as a whole, while reiterating France’s solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.

“Recent events confirm that the situation in Greenland is a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe: on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on combating foreign interference and disinformation, on the fight against climate change, and on a privileged partnership for sustainable development and reducing strategic dependencies,” Macron said at a joint press conference with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Paris.

Macron said France is deeply committed to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity with all its partners in the European Union, adding that France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called for NATO to play a much more significant role in the region and in the High North, including in and around Greenland.

Earlier on January 22, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated that sovereignty remains a red line for his government, even amid intense pressure from the United States.

“Our territorial integrity and borders are absolutely red lines that must not be crossed,” Nielsen, on Thursday told a press conference in Nuuk, capital of Greenland. “Greenland chooses the Greenland we know today, as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with Copenhagen retaining control over defense and foreign policy. Since returning to office in 2025, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to “obtain” Greenland, a move that has been repeatedly rejected by Europe.

IANS