France is not intimidated by Trump’s threats and demands a NATO military exercise in Greenland

“France requests a NATO exercise in Greenland and is willing to contribute,” sources from the Elysee Palace said on Wednesday. The French president, Emmanuel Macroncriticized Trump’s “neocolonial” approach to Greenland this Tuesday at the Davos Forum, stating that he is not willing to recognize “the law of the strongest” or deal with “thugs.”

Eight European countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, sent small military contingents last week to Greenland, an autonomous territory dependent on Denmark, for an exercise led by that European Union country and organized with NATO allies, but without the command of the Atlantic Alliance and without the United States.

This initiative caused Trump, whose presence today at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) is awaited with great expectation, to announce the imposition of new tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to annex Greenland for its wealth in rare minerals and its strategic value compared to China and Russia.

The proposal for a joint military exercise within the framework of NATO would allow the United States to participate alongside its allies of the Atlantic Alliance, which includes the majority of the members of the European Union.

In an interview with conservative television NewsNationTrump maintained this Tuesday that the location of Greenland is key to possible military threats and linked it to his Administration’s defense plans. “It is in a place that is very important for our national security and also for the security of the world, literally,” the president repeated.

In a press conference hours earlier at the White House, the Republican was convinced that Greenlanders will want to integrate into the United States, despite the fact that polls indicate the opposite. “I haven’t spoken to them yet, but I’m sure that when I do they will be delighted,” said Trump, who did not want to reveal how far he is willing to go to take control of the Arctic island: “You’ll see”.

Anti-coercion mechanism

From Davos, Emmanuel Macron replied on Tuesday that the European military deployment does not pose a threat, but an aid to an ally like Denmarkand stressed that Europe prefers “respect over bullies” and “the rule of law over brutality.”

Macron invited Trump to a dinner in Paris after Davos to reduce tensions, but the American president made public the French leader’s private message and later ruled out attending the meeting considering that Macron’s mandate is about to end.

In his speech in Davos on Tuesday, the French president urged his European Union partners not to hesitate to apply the anti-coercion mechanism when “we are not respected and the rules of the game are not respected”, and pleaded for maintaining “calm” and “not passively accept the law of the strongest”.

Macron will not coincide this Wednesday in Davos with Trump, who plans to present his Peace Board in the Alpine town, in which France has ruled out participating because it would overlap the United Nations.