Afp, Ap, Europa Press and Xinhua
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, January 12, 2026, p. 3
Copenhagen. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, stated yesterday that “we believe in international law and in the right of peoples to self-determination; that is why we defend the principles of sovereignty, self-determination and territorial integrity”, while again rejecting the threats of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to appropriate Greenland.
Hours later, Trump asserted that the defense of Greenland is “two dog sleds.” Speaking aboard Air Force One, he noted that the United States is “talking about acquiring, not leasing,” the Arctic island, and said that “if we don’t do it, Russia or China will… you need ownership, you really need title…”
Frederiksen stated during a debate with other Danish party leaders that “there is a conflict around Greenland (…), it is a decisive moment; what is at stake goes beyond what is visible to the naked eye.”
Denmark and Greenland are, like the United States, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and at the beginning of last week, Frederiksen warned that a US attack against one of the members of the alliance would mean “the end of everything”, which was again dismissed yesterday by Trump.
When asked if a possible takeover of Greenland would make NATO collapse, the magnate indicated that he is not worried about it, since the military bloc would not exist if he were not the US president.
Internal and Nordic refusal
Senator and retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly, who two months ago along with other congressmen urged members of the United States armed forces not to obey illegal orders, stated in
US Congressman Ted Lieu also published on X a message addressed to his country’s military, in which he exhorts them to disobey orders.
“Greenland is part of Denmark, a NATO ally. If Trump orders the military to attack Greenland without congressional approval, it would be an illegal order. Disobey this illegal order. Your oath is before the Constitution, not before Trump,” he said.
German Federal Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil urged the United States to respect the territorial sovereignty of Greenland, and at the same time Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticized recent US actions in Venezuela and what he described as “threatening rhetoric” towards Denmark and Greenland.
Belgium speaks out for show of force
In Brussels, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken estimated that Greenland should be the scene of a NATO military operation as a “show of force.”
For their part, diplomats from Nordic countries dismissed Trump’s statements about Russian and Chinese ship operations near Greenland.
They assured the Financial Times that “in recent years there has been no indication of the presence of Russian and Chinese ships or submarines near Greenland.”
