‘We will continue to stand united’

• Trump also ‘has a lot to lose’: French minister
• US Greenland move would delight Putin: Spanish PM
• European nations playing ‘dangerous game’: Trump

Eight European nations in a joint statement yesterday said they stood in solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland following US President Donald Trump’s threat to annex the Arctic island.

“As members of Nato, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest,” Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain said in the statement.

“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” the statement said.

In a ‍post on his platform, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump said 10 percent tariffs would come into effect on February 1 for ​Denmark, ‌Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

He added that these tariffs ‌would rise to ‌25 percent on June 1 and continue until an agreement is reached ‌for the US to buy Greenland, reports AFP.

Trump indicated in his lengthy social media post that the tariffs were being imposed in retaliation for trips the countries’ representatives took to Greenland “for purposes unknown”. He accused all eight of playing a “very dangerous game” in opposing US control over the territory.

The United States will also suffer if President Donald Trump implements threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, a French minister said yesterday.

“In this escalation of tariffs, he has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists,” French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews, adding any US takeover of the autonomous Danish territory would be “unacceptable”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said a US invasion of Greenland “would make Putin the happiest man on earth” in a newspaper interview published yesterday.

Sanchez said any military action by the US against Denmark’s vast Arctic island would damage Nato and legitimise the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

The UK’s position on Greenland is “non-negotiable”, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said yesterday.