London, Jan 18 (.) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday firmly rejected any suggestion of changing Greenland’s status, stressing that the Arctic island is an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark and that its future can only be decided by the people of Greenland and Denmark.
“Our position on Greenland is very clear – it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes,” Starmer said in a post on X.
Highlighting that security in the Arctic is a “collective NATO” concern, he called for closer cooperation among allies to counter growing challenges in the region. “Allies should do more together to address the threat from Russia across different parts of the Arctic,” he said.
Criticising the use of tariffs against allies, Starmer added that such measures undermine collective security efforts. “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO is completely wrong. We will, of course, be raising this directly with the US administration,” he said.
Starmer’s remarks come amid rapidly escalating tensions between the European union and the United States after US President Donald Trump announced fresh tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries, explicitly linking the move to his long-standing push to acquire Greenland.
Following Trump’s announcement, the EU has put negotiations and ratifications of the proposed EU–US trade deal on hold. The agreement, reached in July 2025, was aimed at reducing tariffs on US imports and strengthening transatlantic economic ties across all 27 EU member states.
Trump, in posts on Truth Social, threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff from February 1, 2026, rising to 25 percent from June 1, on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland unless Greenland is “completely and totally” sold to the United States.
He cited Greenland’s “strategic location and mineral resources as critical to US national security.” European officials, including European People’s Party Vice-President Siegfried Muresan, said that the announcement undermines the stability the trade deal was meant to ensure.
Denmark and Greenland have rejected the idea, emphasising their right to self-determination. As tensions mount, Denmark has increased its military presence in Greenland, while Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands have sent small contingents in a show of solidarity.
European leaders have cautioned that any US attempt to seize Greenland would have serious consequences for NATO and transatlantic security.
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