Denmark is ready to discuss with the United States matters related to the security and economy of Greenland, but sovereignty is off the table, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said amid rising tensions with President Donald Trump.
"We can negotiate anything," Frederiksen told the Danish parliament on Tuesday. "But we cannot negotiate our very fundamental values, sovereignty, the identity of our countries and our borders. Our democracy."
Her comments come as European leaders close ranks to defend Denmark and Greenland against Trump's expansionism, while extending their hand for a diplomatic solution.
Ursula von der Leyen said that if Trump goes ahead and imposes 10% tariffs on eight European countries to force the sale of the mineral-rich island, the European Union will hit back with an "unflinching, united and proportional" response.
"Plunging us into a dangerous downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of our strategic landscape," she said during her address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, who also spoke in Davos, said the bloc "should not be hesitant" to use its Anti-Coercion Instrument, also known as its "trade bazooka", in the current geoeconomic environment, referring both to the US and China.
"This is crazy. I do regret that, but this is a consequence of just unpredictability and useless aggressivity," Macon said, adding: "We have to remain very calm."
In reaction to the statements, Scott Bessent, the US Secretary of the Treasury, told Europeans to "sit back, take a deep breath, do not retaliate, do not retaliate."
Trump had earlier in the day doubled down on his bid to acquire Greenland, posting a digitally-generated picture of him putting a US flag in the semi-autonomous territory.
Catch up on today's development in the live blog below:
