Note originally published in Révolution Permanente, part of the International Network La Izquierda Diario in France.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his ambition to take control of Greenland. Since January 3, emboldened by Venezuela’s imperialist aggression, the US president has intensified his threats to annex the Danish colony. “Reaching a deal would be the easiest thing, but one way or another we are going to have Greenland,” Trump summarized on Sunday aboard Air Force One. The next day, the White House published a photo of Trump in front of an X-shaped map of Greenland.
The territory is of fundamental strategic importance for US imperialism. As Trump declared this Wednesday: “[Estados Unidos] needs Greenland for national security reasons. It is vital to the Golden Dome [el proyecto de escudo antimisiles diseñado para interceptar misiles de Eurasia, entre otros] that we are building. In addition, the Danish colony occupies a strategic position that would allow the United States to strengthen its control over the sea routes through the Arctic. Beyond these geopolitical and military considerations, Greenland is rich in important mineral resources, most of which are currently untapped, but which Trump would like to seize.
In response, the Danish government and all European imperialists stand united against the American president’s statements. For several weeks, the Danish Prime Minister has visited her European counterparts, while seven European Union countries have signed a joint declaration demanding respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. This Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron declared in the Council of Ministers that “if the sovereignty of a European and allied country were affected, the consequences would be unprecedented. France […] “will act in full solidarity with Denmark and its sovereignty.” Also on Wednesday morning, Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared on RTL radio his firm opposition to the purchase of Greenland, arguing that “Greenland does not want to be owned, governed or integrated by the United States. Greenland has chosen Denmark, NATO and the European Union. He also announced the opening of a consulate in the territory on February 6, a “political signal” to show his support for the Danish government.
Meanwhile, the Danish Defense Minister announced on Wednesday morning a reinforcement of the militarization of the territory, anticipating a greater military presence in and around Greenland, in terms of aircraft, ships and troops, including those of NATO allies. The meeting between Danish leaders and their American counterparts at the White House on Wednesday afternoon failed to resolve the crisis. Leaving the meeting, the Danish foreign minister lamented a fundamental disagreement, saying it was clear that Donald Trump wants to conquer Greenland. While the Danish minister continues to try to reassure the Trump administration by stating that there are no Chinese warships or massive Chinese investments in Greenland, it appears that this has not been enough to dissuade the United States from its annexation plan.
Although Sweden had already announced this morning the deployment of military personnel to Greenland at the request of the Danish government, the meeting at the White House triggered a wave of announcements in the European Union. France, Germany and Norway have already announced their participation in a European military reconnaissance mission to Greenland, the objective of which, according to the German Defense Minister, is “to examine the framework conditions for possible military contributions supporting Denmark in the security of the region, for example, in the field of maritime surveillance capabilities.”
During his New Year’s speech to the armed forces, on Thursday, January 15, Emmanuel Macron went even further by announcing the deployment of French soldiers to Greenland, with the support of naval, air and land means. He also took advantage of Trump’s threats to formalize another record increase in the French defense budget: 36 billion euros over four years, which would bring it to about 90 billion euros annually. In the face of increasingly aggressive US imperialism, European leaders are flaunting their power and taking advantage of the diplomatic crisis to push their militarist agenda.
The European reactions reveal one thing: behind the hypocritical calls for respect for international law, the leaders of the Old Continent defend their own imperialist and militarist agenda. Last week, in response to Venezuela’s aggression and Trump’s renewed annexationist ambitions in Greenland, Élisabeth Borne argued for “the emergence of a sovereign European power”, while Gabriel Attal urged democracies to rediscover “the path of strength”, specifying: “For France, strength means our military capacity to reinforce, more than ever, our refusal to be erased.” The European powers fear losing control of the Danish colony to a US administration that seeks to impose, by all means necessary, including the most brutal, a solution that will allow it to counteract the decline of its hegemony.
Greenland is thus caught in a spiral between American imperialist ambitions and the European desire to protect its economic and geostrategic interests in the Arctic. In short, two variants of the same colonial ambition. On the one hand, the United States seeks to reaffirm its dominance over the American continent and defend its own interests, while China increasingly and openly aspires to challenge its global hegemony. This carries the risk of “dissolving” the transatlantic relationship, as the German vice-chancellor has warned, and of fueling inter-imperialist tensions. On the other hand, in an unstable international situation in which they play only a secondary role, the former European imperialisms refuse to allow their long-standing ally to seize one of their strategic positions. The European Union, faced with its own decline, has every interest in keeping the Danish colony under its control. At the same time, Russia has expressed outrage at the “accelerated militarization” of the Arctic, which threatens to create new sources of conflict between powers.
In this context, it is necessary to affirm that the territory of Greenland does not belong to Denmark, nor to the United States, nor to any imperialism. The defense of the right to self-determination is the only legitimate demand against colonial ambitions that only seek to perpetuate the plundering of natural resources and the exploitation of indigenous populations. At the same time, it is necessary to denounce the bellicose rhetoric of European leaders, who use Trump’s provocations to accelerate the militarization of the continent and seek to protect their own imperialist interests. In the face of this, only a consistent anti-war and anti-imperialist movement that unconditionally defends Greenland’s right to self-determination, against our own imperialisms and their interests, can stop the march towards war currently underway.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
