The European Parliament on Wednesday decided to suspend its work on a trade agreement between the European Union and the United States after US President Donald Trump’s repeated demands for control over Greenland and threatened tariffs against European allies opposing his plan.
A member of the Parliament said the decision came after Trump’s latest comments at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which have sparked strong opposition within the 27-member bloc.
The Parliament was planning a vote in the coming weeks on removing tariffs on US industrial goods as part of the deal.
In his speech at the WEF, Trump reiterated that he wants to “get Greenland, including right, title and ownership”. However, he clarified that he would not use force to do so.
"All we're asking for is to get Greenland, including right title and ownership because you need the ownership to defend it. You can't defend it on a lease. Number one, legally, it's not defensible that way, totally. And number two, psychologically, who the hell wants to defend a license agreement or a lease, which is a large piece of ice in the middle of the ocean, where if there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice," Trump said.
Trump further said he held “tremendous respect” for the people of Greenland and Denmark but argued that no NATO ally other than the United States is capable of effectively securing the vast Arctic territory. “Every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend its own territory, and the fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States,” he said.
"Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory. Sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia and China. That's exactly where it is, right smack in the middle... We need it for strategic national security and international security," Trump added.
The POTUS said that Europe is not recognisable in certain places and that it is not heading in the right direction.
