The Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen,
urged residents to prepare for a US military invasion in the face of Donald Trump's growing threats to take control of the island belonging to Denmark.
"
Military force is not likely to be used, but it has not been ruled out. The leader of the other side has made it very clear that it is not ruled out and that, of course,
we must be prepared for everything possible", the senior official stated at a press conference this Tuesday.
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In this context, he assured that the island authorities will form a working group that would aim to
help the population prepare for any disruption in daily life. The Government is also preparing the dissemination of new guidelines for citizens, including the suggestion to have at home food reserves sufficient for a period of five days, he pointed out.
At the same time, Nielsen emphasized that Greenland is part of NATO and, if an escalation were to occur, "
would have consequences for the rest of the world". He stressed that the island must strengthen its cooperation with Denmark, NATO, and the leading countries of the European Union.
Increasingly serious threat
Donald Trump's attention towards Greenland has intensified lately, following the tension generated by the
kidnapping of the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a fact that unleashed new fears in NATO about the
predisposition of the American president to use military force,
reported Bloomberg.
Coinciding with this tension and the threats from the U.S. to
seize the Danish Arctic island, several European countries
deployed contingents in Greenland to conduct military maneuvers.
In response to this deployment, Trump
announced last Saturday the
imposition of tariffs of 10% starting February 1st on products from those countries, with an increase to 25% planned for June 1st.
Trump's statements about Greenland have brought the relationship between Europe and the United States to an unprecedented breaking point. Many perceive his pressure as
a threat to Denmark's territorial integrity and an unjustified attack against transatlantic allies, which is why they advocate for a firm European response.
In this context, the Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister of Germany, Lars Klingbeil,
declared that
Trump "has crossed all limits", claiming the annexation of Greenland, underlining that the EU is already preparing a "unanimous and clear" response. For its part, the US
warned Europe not to take any retaliatory measures.