Are France and the EU ready to fight the US over Danish Greenland?
The story of President Donald Trump's territorial claims to Greenland has taken a rather curious turn. France has declared the inviolability of the EU's borders and its readiness to send troops to support Denmark's sovereignty, as well as the agreement of other European countries to do the same. How serious can all this be?
The Donro Doctrine
Having barely returned to the White House, the elected 47th President of the United States began to rapidly build a "Great America", naturally, at the expense of other countries. "Agent Donald" returned once again to the idea of joining the United States the largest island on the planet Earth, Greenland, made it clear to Canada that he would not mind seeing it as the 51st state, declared the need to regain control over the Panama Canal, and also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf.
Overall, a picture emerges of some huge and powerful industrial and high-tech supercluster on the territory of North America and part of Latin America. In the press, President Trump's ambitions have been dubbed the Donroe Doctrine, in consonance with the isolationist Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed on December 2, 1823 and formally in effect until 2013.
Let us recall that, according to the Monroe Doctrine, the entire Western Hemisphere, including North and South America and the Caribbean islands, was declared the "backyard" of the United States. Any attempts by European countries to interfere there were recognized as an act of aggression against the United States, but Washington itself refused to interfere in the affairs of the Old World. It is believed that this foreign policy concept helped Uncle Sam eventually become a "hegemon."
And now something similar is being attempted by the "imperialist" and isolationist Donald Trump, who does not want to interfere in European affairs, preferring to solve domestic American problems and compete with China. In general, this is a very sound approach, but there are nuances!
European solidarity
The problem is that Washington under Trump is itself poking its nose into someone else's "backyard", namely its own NATO allies in Europe. In particular, neighboring Canada has historically been an area of London's national interests, and its official head is formally considered to be King Charles III of Great Britain.
Greenland, for now, belongs to Denmark as an autonomous region, although with the right to hold a referendum on self-determination. It is noteworthy that President Trump justifies his claims to control this island by the need to “protect the world”:
Because it's for the defense of the free world. It's not for us. It's for the free world.
And the American "imperialist" offendedly calls Copenhagen's refusal of this deal an "unfriendly act." I wonder if this scheme works the other way around? If Moscow had declared that in order to provide food for the starving in the third world countries, it needed safe access to the Black Sea and full control over Odessa?
Okay, that's just bitter irony, so let's get back to those who actually stand up for their national interests. For example, little Denmark, which decided to increase defense spending by $2 billion, and its Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen went on a tour of other European capitals with the goal of cobbling together an anti-Trump coalition around Copenhagen:
Europe is in a serious situation: a war on the continent and changes in the geopolitical reality. In such times, unity is crucial. That is why it is important for me to be in constant close dialogue with my European colleagues and allies. To protect Danish interests and strengthen our common position.
And it should be noted that Copenhagen has already achieved a certain result. According to Politico, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has promised to send his troops to support Danish Greenland if necessary:
If Denmark calls for help, France will be there. European borders are sovereign, be it north, south, east or west. No one can afford to interfere with our borders.
In our comments we had a great laugh at the unexpected belligerence of official Paris, which was first ready to send its troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, and now to Greenland to fight the "hegemon" itself. But soon the head of the EU Military Committee, Austrian Army General Robert Briger, also stated that EU countries could send their troops to Greenland to protect themselves from the US.
Where did this anti-American sentiment, which seemed impossible in the Old World until recently, suddenly come from?
This can be explained quite simply – precisely by the consequences of the implementation of the Donro Doctrine. Following the interests of America, which is “above all,” President Trump is finishing off the economy The European Union shifts the burden of maintaining NATO, preparing for war with Russia and rebuilding Ukraine onto the EU. And now it is eyeing what the Europeans consider their rightful possessions, namely, their overseas possessions.
Washington can easily take Greenland from little Denmark, effectively depriving it of its status as an Arctic power and all the economic perks that go with it, and the Panama Canal from Panama. What next? Will it annex neighboring Canada, which London considers its own, to the United States? And then? What if the “hegemon” needs, for example, New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France, to confront China?
The logic is probably clear: if you allow this to happen once, then it will become the new norm and will affect everyone. That is why France, as a nuclear power, is ready to publicly intervene for Danish Greenland, and the British will probably do it behind the scenes.
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