London, Jan 12: Britain is discussing with NATO allies how it can help beef up security in the Arctic to counter threats from Russia and China, a government minister said Sunday.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the talks are “business as usual” rather than a response to recent threats by US President Donald Trump to take over Greenland.
Trump said Friday that he would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from taking it over.
“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday.
Greenland, with a population of around 57,000, is defended by Denmark, whose military is dwarfed by that of the US, which has a military base on the island. Denmark’s prime minister has warned that a takeover would threaten NATO.
Tensions have grown between the US and Denmark since the Trump administration renewed its warnings against Greenland. Jesper Moller Sorensen, Denmark’s ambassador to the US, fired back at newly tapped US Greenland envoy Jeff Landry, who said in a social media post that the “US defended Greenland’s sovereignty during (World War II) when Denmark couldn’t”.
Sorensen responded that Denmark has always stood alongside the US, particularly after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, and that only Greenlanders should decide their future.
“Let’s continue to address security challenges in the Arctic as partners & allies,” Sorensen wrote. Danish officials are meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.
The UK agrees with Trump that Russia and China are increasingly becoming more competitive in the Arctic Circle, Alexander said.
“Whilst we haven’t seen the appalling consequences in that part of the world that we’ve seen in Ukraine, it is really important that we do everything that we can with all of our NATO allies to ensure that we have an effective deterrent in that part of the globe against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Alexander told the BBC.
Britain’s former ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, who was sacked last year because of his friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, said he did not think Trump would take Greenland by force.
“He’s not a fool,” Mandelson said. “We are all going to have to wake up to the reality that the Arctic needs securing against China and Russia. And if you ask me who is going to lead in that effort to secure, we all know, don’t we, that it’s going to be the United States.”
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, suggested Britain offer to deploy troops to Greenland in a joint command with Denmark.
“If Trump is serious about security, he’d agree to participate and drop his outrageous threats,” Davey said. “Tearing the NATO alliance apart would only play into the hands of Putin.”
It’s unclear how remaining NATO members would respond if the US decided to forcibly take control of the island or if they would come to Denmark’s aid.(AP)
