Sir Keir Starmer has told LBC that the UK stands with Denmark as there has been strong suggestions from the US President that he could annex Greenland, as Vladimir Putin did with Ukraine’s Crimea in in 2014.
Starmer told LBC’s political editor Natasha Clarke that the UK is on side with Denmark and insisted it is important the government is “very clear about the future of Greenland.”
Donald Trump suggested over the weekend that Venezuela might not be the only country to face military intervention which comes after the US special forces attacked Venezuela and capture the President Nicolas Maduro, which has led to fierce criticism.
The US President has been continually insisting that he wants to take over the Danish territory of Greenland citing national security.
Denmark has hit back at Trump and said in a statement, “the US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom.”
Trump told the Atlantic magazine after the capture of Maduro, “”We do need Greenland, absolutely.”
Starmer told LBC, “The future of Greenland is for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, and it’s for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark only.
Denmark is a close ally of the United Kingdom in Europe and a close ally in Nato.
“And so, it’s very important we stand by our ally and are very clear about the future of Greenland.
“It’s my consistent message in relation to Greenland. That’s not a new position. The future for Greenland is for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.
“We stand with Denmark on this.”
The Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said, “It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland. The United States has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Commonwealth.
The Kingdom of Denmark – and thus Greenland – is part of NATO and is therefore covered by the alliance’s security guarantee.
“We already have a defense agreement between the Kingdom and the United States today, which gives the United States wide access to Greenland.
And we, on the part of the Kingdom, have invested significantly in security in the Arctic. I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have said very clearly that they are not for sale.
