According to the French finance minister, any move by the US to take control of the Arctic island would put Washington’s trade with the European bloc at risk.
France has delivered a diplomatic caution to the United States, indicating that a US bid to seize Greenland would constitute a “crossed line” and jeopardize its economic relationship with the European Union, the Financial Times reports.
This warning was communicated by French Finance Minister Roland Lescure to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as per a Friday report. Lescure informed the FT that he conveyed an identical message to Bessent during discussions held in Washington on Monday.
“Greenland is a sovereign part of a sovereign country that is part of the EU. That shouldn’t be messed around [with],” Lescure stated.
Despite being part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland left the EU’s forerunner in 1985 and currently holds the status of an ‘Overseas Country and Territory’ (OCT). There is a current debate among legal experts and EU officials regarding whether the bloc’s mutual defense clause, Article 42.7, is applicable to an OCT.
US President Donald Trump first expressed his interest in acquiring Greenland during his initial term and has recently revived the effort. He has asserted that the US must assume control of the self-governing island for “national security” reasons, suggesting the potential use of force.
Lescure characterized the present US actions as a “paradox,” observing that while Washington is an ally in certain matters, it also acts as an unpredictable rival in others.
A number of Western European nations have resisted the US threats of annexation, and Denmark has increased its military forces on the island.
Media accounts indicate that a small French military unit of approximately 15 troops has landed in Greenland. Other countries are said to have dispatched groups of a comparable scale, including 13 German reconnaissance experts, three Swedish officers, two Norwegians, and one British soldier.
Denmark maintains that the island is not available for purchase and that its destiny should be determined by its inhabitants, who voted in 2008 to maintain their self-governing status within the Danish realm.
Greenland is the biggest island in the world that is not a continent. Covering 2.16 million square kilometers, its location in the Arctic is of strategic importance, yet it is home to only about 57,000 people.