Washington: US President Donald Trump considers acquiring Greenland a national security priority, the White House said, igniting fierce opposition from Democrats and bipartisan warnings in Congress that talk of military options could damage the NATO alliance and unsettle global stability. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the President and his advisers were examining "a range of options" to achieve the goal and noted that use of the US military was always within the Commander-in-Chief's authority. Her comments prompted lawmakers to caution that even discussing force against Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, risked undermining one of America's closest partners.
In a joint statement, Representatives Blake Moore, Republican of Utah, and Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, called the administration's sabre-rattling "needlessly dangerous." They stressed that Denmark is a NATO ally and that any attack on Greenland would amount to an attack on NATO itself. The lawmakers highlighted Copenhagen's long record of cooperation with Washington in the Arctic, saying Denmark had accepted every US request to expand its military presence on the island and was spending 3.3 percent of its GDP on defense, well above NATO guidelines, to help deter Russia and China in the region.
Moore and Hoyer rejected arguments that annexation was required for US security interests. "We already have access to everything we could need from Greenland," they said, pointing to Denmark's approval of expanded deployments and missile-defence infrastructure whenever requested. They warned that threats of annexation could erode trust among allies while emboldening authoritarian rivals and provoking a damaging rift inside the alliance. "The last thing America needs is a civil war among NATO that endangers our security and our way of life," the statement added.
Seeking to curb that possibility, Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona introduced an amendment to the Senate Defence Appropriations bill to prohibit the use of federal funds for hostilities or preparations for war against Greenland. Gallego accused Trump of using belligerent rhetoric to distract Americans from inflation, housing costs and domestic controversies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer echoed those concerns after a classified briefing, saying the administration offered "no real answers" about its foreign policy direction in Venezuela or elsewhere. Senator Mark Warner warned that any genuine military threat against Denmark would lead to the "absolute destruction of NATO."
Greenland hosts long-standing US installations vital for Arctic surveillance and missile defence, and its strategic value has increased as melting ice opens new shipping routes and sharpens competition with Russia and China. (IANS)
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