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‘Europe won’t be blackmailed,’ over Greenland: Danish PM
The US president has said he will impose a new 10% levy on goods from eight allied nations if they oppose his proposed takeover of the autonomous Danish territory, BBC reported.
Frederiksen and other European leaders issued a joint statement on Sunday, saying the tariffs risked "undermin[ing] transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral".
On Monday, Trump said NATO had been "telling Denmark, for 20 years, that 'you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.' Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!"
Trump insists Greenland is critical for US security and has previously said Washington would get the territory "the easy way" or "the hard way". He has not ruled out use of force, which has drawn widespread criticism.
The new tariffs – taxes on imports – would be imposed on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK, Trump said on Saturday.
He said an initial 10% tariff would come into force on February 1 "on any and all goods" sent to the US, but could rise to 25% in June.
The levies would "be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland", he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In their joint statement, the leaders of those eight countries reiterated their "full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland".
They also stressed their commitment to "strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest" as members of the NATO military alliance. "We stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind," the statement reads.
Separately, Frederiksen wrote on Facebook: "We want to cooperate and we are not the ones seeking conflict. And I am happy for the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed."
According to the Deutsche Welle, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe must hold firm in the face of Trump's threat.
"It is clear that we want to stand our ground, as a country and as a continent," Merz said. "It is up to us, and in Germany we want to accept the realities, take responsibility and lead the way for Germany."
"We want to avoid any escalation in this dispute if at all possible," the chancellor said.