SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Yesterday, President Trump again threatened to take over Greenland, saying, I would like to make a deal the easy way. If we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way. The island is an autonomous region of Denmark and a member of the EU. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports on the reaction in Europe.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: When asked about President Trump's talk of annexing Greenland this week, French President Emmanuel Macron said...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "I cannot imagine any scenario where the United States of America would violate Danish sovereignty." But the prime ministers of Britain, Denmark and the head of NATO have all been on the phone with Trump trying to talk him down.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS REPORTER: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: European news channels are providing nonstop coverage of Greenland. Gerard Araud, former French ambassador to the U.S., summed up the situation on news channel LCI.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GERARD ARAUD: (Through interpreter) European leaders are in this surreal situation where they need the U.S. to help defend Ukraine and, on the other hand, are getting ready to defend Greenland against the U.S.
BEARDSLEY: The Trump administration's talk about Greenland is taken much more seriously after the U.S. incursion into Venezuela last weekend. It's also yet another blow to the transatlantic alliance, says Guntram Wolff, a senior adviser at Brussels think tank Bruegel.
GUNTRAM WOLFF: I think European leaders basically think that the United States is not really an ally anymore, and they also think that the United States is ready to breach international law instead of defending it.
BEARDSLEY: Wolff says Europeans don't understand why the Cold War treaty between Denmark and the U.S. on Greenland is no longer good enough.
WOLFF: In the '80s, there were 10,000 or more U.S. troops in Greenland, and that was perfectly OK and, I think, a very sensible arrangement where we were, both sides, boosting transatlantic security.
BEARDSLEY: But Trump says the U.S. must now own Greenland and has not ruled out military action.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland.
BEARDSLEY: Mikaa Blugeon-Mered is a Greenland and Arctic specialist with the University of Quebec. He says the Chinese were poised to massively invest in minerals and infrastructure in Greenland in 2018, but a newly elected, ecologically minded Greenland government ended the project.
MIKAA BLUGEON-MERED: China has virtually no activity in Greenland anymore.
BEARDSLEY: Blugeon-Mered says Greenlanders do not want to exploit their island's rare earth minerals because it cannot be done without extracting uranium, which the antinuclear population opposes. He says they look to Iceland, which got its independence from Denmark in 1944, as a model.
BLUGEON-MERED: They want two things. They want respect - respect for their culture, respect for their language - and then the second thing that they want is to be independent, like Iceland, building their own economic model.
BEARDSLEY: ...Developing resources like fisheries, tourism and renewable energies in equal partnership with investors. In an interview this week with German TV Deutsche Welle, Greenland politician Aaja Chemnitz said the Trump administration's talk is offensive.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AAJA CHEMNITZ: This is completely appalling. Completely wrong way to collaborate with other partners. And so it's very disrespectful towards the Greenlandic people.
BEARDSLEY: Greenland expert Blugeon-Mered says it would actually be easy for the U.S. to lock down Greenland militarily by controlling the few ports, airports and critical infrastructure.
BLUGEON-MERED: So basically, allies within NATO would have to - what? - shoot them? If they do that, it's not just the end of NATO. It's a full-on war between the U.S. and its closest allies.
BEARDSLEY: That's the last thing the Europeans want, he says, but no one would love it more than Russia. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
