“Are you waiting for American marines to land in Greenland or what?” one journalist pressed the European Commission.
The European Commission on Wednesday danced around questions about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about wanting to take over Greenland.
At a press conference Tuesday, Trump refused to rule out using military force to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal, saying the United States needed them “for economic security.”
The Commission attempted not to fan the flames at its press briefing on Wednesday, saying it “will not go into the specifics” of Trump’s comments, as the institution’s spokespeople came under repeated, intense questioning about what it would do in the scenario that America attacked Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
“It is clear that the sovereignty of states has to be respected,” Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said, adding that Brussels was looking forward to working with the next U.S. administration toward “a stronger transatlantic agenda.”
The answer did not appease journalists in the press room, as several questions followed on the issue, with one even comparing the issue to the run-up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Before that, for some months publicly, the Commission, the EEAS and diplomats in some member states were stating that an invasion was a hypothetical scenario, so there’s no need to intervene,” said correspondent of the Italian Radio Radicale, David Carretta.
“What President Trump said yesterday was a military threat to a member state, which is real: He is the president-elect of the most powerful country in the world. Are you conscious that there is a risk?” he added.
Greenland is not in the EU but is classed as an “Overseas Territory associated with the EU.” Of the almost 57,000 people who live on the giant, mineral-rich island, only about 2,000 are non-Danes, meaning the population mostly consists of EU citizens.
Although the Commission confirmed that any military action against Greenland would activate the EU’s mutual assistance clause in Article 42(7) of the Treaty, it refused to answer whether it assesses that there’s a real risk of the U.S. invading Denmark’s overseas territory, calling the case “very theoretical.”
Trump’s original statement Tuesday sparked a strong reaction from France, where the foreign minister said that the EU would not allow other countries to attack its sovereign borders.
That message wasn’t quite so clear in the Brussels press room, however.
“You say that sovereignty is paramount, but you’re not going to comment on a pretty naked threat from the incoming president of the United States. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that, I mean, what are you waiting for?” asked Euractiv’s Nicholas Wallace, to no clear response.
“Are you waiting for American marines to land in Greenland or what?” he added.
