EU seeks stability after Trump steps back on Greenland and tariffs

President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the emergency summit in Brussels that the EU remained "extremely vigilant" after the US backed down over threats to take Greenland by force and impose fresh tariffs on some member states. © AFP - NICOLAS TUCAT

EU leaders have expressed relief after US President Donald Trump withdrew threats to annex Greenland by force and impose fresh tariffs on certain member states. At emergency talks in Brussels on Thursday leaders also called for vigilance, unity and the need to defend European interests.

Tensions between the United States and the European Union eased shortly before Thursday's emergency meeting in Brussels when Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he would suspend the tariff threats and would not use force to take control of Greenland – a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.