Latest news with #ArcticSecurity
CNN
15-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
French president to touch down in Greenland, in solidarity with territory eyed by Trump
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to land in Greenland Sunday, in a move designed to bolster European support for the Danish territory, which is still batting away advances from the Trump administration to acquire it for the United States. Macron will be the first foreign leader to visit the resource-rich island since US President Donald Trump began his campaign to buy or annex Greenland, which he insists the US needs for national security purposes. A source at the Élysée Palace said that the French president's trip had a 'dimension of European solidarity and one of strengthening sovereignty and territorial integrity,' without mentioning the Trump administration's threats to purchase Greenland, or take it by force. Additionally, Macron's visit would focus on Arctic security, climate change and Greenland's economic development, the source added. During his time on the world's biggest island the French leader will tour a glacier, a hydroelectric power station and a Danish warship moored near the semiautonomous territory's capital, Nuuk, per the Élysée. 'The deeps are not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale, any more than Antarctica or the high seas are for sale,' Macron said on June 9 as he opened a United Nations conference on the oceans in Nice, France. Trump's intentions for Greenland can't be far from the French president's thoughts on his first visit to the Arctic territory, which Macron will conduct alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's political leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in January that Paris had 'started discussing (the deployment of French troops) with Denmark,' but that Copenhagen did not want to proceed with the idea. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying the island, or the US taking it by military or economic coercion, even as NATO ally Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea. Last month, the US president renewed his threat of using military force to annex the territory. US Vice President JD Vance also made a stopover to visit American troops in Greenland in late March. During that trip, the vice president made a high-profile case for US control of the island. He said Greenland would be better off 'coming under the United States' security umbrella than you have been under Denmark's security umbrella.' In a move widely seen as an effort to ease American ambitions for the territory, on June 12 Denmark's parliament widened a military agreement with Washington to allow US bases on Danish soil. US soldiers had previously been based at Danish facilities. Denmark is also moving to bolster its military presence in Greenland, some 1,500 miles from the Danish mainland, including with fighter jets to patrol the western coastline toward the US and a navy frigate, per Greenland's parliament.
CNN
15-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
French president to touch down in Greenland, in solidarity with territory eyed by Trump
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to land in Greenland Sunday, in a move designed to bolster European support for the Danish territory, which is still batting away advances from the Trump administration to acquire it for the United States. Macron will be the first foreign leader to visit the resource-rich island since US President Donald Trump began his campaign to buy or annex Greenland, which he insists the US needs for national security purposes. A source at the Élysée Palace said that the French president's trip had a 'dimension of European solidarity and one of strengthening sovereignty and territorial integrity,' without mentioning the Trump administration's threats to purchase Greenland, or take it by force. Additionally, Macron's visit would focus on Arctic security, climate change and Greenland's economic development, the source added. During his time on the world's biggest island the French leader will tour a glacier, a hydroelectric power station and a Danish warship moored near the semiautonomous territory's capital, Nuuk, per the Élysée. 'The deeps are not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale, any more than Antarctica or the high seas are for sale,' Macron said on June 9 as he opened a United Nations conference on the oceans in Nice, France. Trump's intentions for Greenland can't be far from the French president's thoughts on his first visit to the Arctic territory, which Macron will conduct alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's political leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in January that Paris had 'started discussing (the deployment of French troops) with Denmark,' but that Copenhagen did not want to proceed with the idea. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in buying the island, or the US taking it by military or economic coercion, even as NATO ally Denmark and Greenland have firmly rejected the idea. Last month, the US president renewed his threat of using military force to annex the territory. US Vice President JD Vance also made a stopover to visit American troops in Greenland in late March. During that trip, the vice president made a high-profile case for US control of the island. He said Greenland would be better off 'coming under the United States' security umbrella than you have been under Denmark's security umbrella.' In a move widely seen as an effort to ease American ambitions for the territory, on June 12 Denmark's parliament widened a military agreement with Washington to allow US bases on Danish soil. US soldiers had previously been based at Danish facilities. Denmark is also moving to bolster its military presence in Greenland, some 1,500 miles from the Danish mainland, including with fighter jets to patrol the western coastline toward the US and a navy frigate, per Greenland's parliament.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
France's Macron to visit Greenland on June 15
PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland on June 15 and meet both Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, his presidency said in a statement on Saturday. The talks between the leaders will focus on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, energy transition and critical minerals, the French presidency added.
Al Jazeera
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Macron to visit Greenland to boost ‘European unity' amid Trump threats
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland this month, the French presidency has announced, in the wake of United States expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semi-autonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland's new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen. The talks between the leaders will focus on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, energy transition and critical minerals, the French presidency said in a statement on Saturday. Frederiksen welcomed Macron's upcoming visit and said in a statement that it is 'another concrete testimony of European unity' in the face of a 'difficult foreign policy situation'. The visit comes amid US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland. This trip aims to 'strengthen cooperation' with the Arctic territory in these areas and to 'contribute to the strengthening of European sovereignty', the French presidency statement stressed. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to control the immense Arctic territory, rich in mineral resources and strategically located, 'one way or another'. 'We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,' Trump said in an interview in March. The US has also suggested that Russia and China have strategic designs on Greenland. Trump's Vice President JD Vance visited the US military base in Pituffik, northwest Greenland, on March 28, in a trip seen as a provocation at the time. Vance accused Denmark of not having 'done a good job for the people of Greenland', not investing enough in the local economy and 'not ensuring its security'. The vice president stressed that the US has 'no option' but to take a significant position to ensure the security of the island as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark. 'I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,' Vance said. 'We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they'd fare a lot better economically as well.' Denmark, for its part, insists that Greenland 'is not for sale'. Addressing American leaders from the huge island, the prime minister said in early April: 'You cannot annex another country.' Faced with American threats, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.1bn) in financial commitments for Arctic security, covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites. Greenland's main political parties, which are in favour of the territory's independence in the long term, are also against the idea of joining the US. According to a poll published at the end of January, the population of 57,000 mostly Inuit inhabitants, including more than 19,000 in the capital, Nuuk, rejected any prospect of becoming American. Incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in March that the territory needed unity at this time. 'It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences … because only in this way will we be able to cope with the heavy pressure we are exposed to from outside,' he said.
Reuters
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
France's Macron to visit Greenland on June 15
PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland on June 15 and meet both Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, his presidency said in a statement on Saturday. The talks between the leaders will focus on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, energy transition and critical minerals, the French presidency added.
