Denmark won't bend to Trump's pressure over Greenland, prime minister says
President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the minerals-rich and strategically-located Arctic island for reasons of national and international security, and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.
"The world order we've built through generations is being challenged like never before," Frederiksen said in a speech for National Day.
"In recent months Greenland and Denmark have been subjected to unacceptable pressure from our closest ally," she added, referring to the United States.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on a visit to the island in March accused fellow NATO member Denmark of not doing a good job keeping Greenland safe and suggested the United States would better protect the territory.
Vance's visit followed an election victory by Greenland's Demokraatit party, which favours a slow approach to independence rather than the quicker departure proposed by some others.
Leaders of Denmark and Greenland have said only Greenlanders can decide the territory's future, and the Danish constitution gives the island the right to seek independence.
Fundamental principles in the transatlantic relationship such as national sovereignty, the respect for borders and people's right to self-determination are now at stake, Frederiksen said.
"But we don't bend. We Danes are not like that," she added.
Denmark's King Frederik, who is popular in Greenland, visited the island in late April in a show of unity amid the diplomatic stand-off with Trump.
A 1951 agreement between the United States and Denmark gives the U.S. the right to construct military bases in Greenland as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth, but development has been slow and the mining sector has seen very limited U.S. investment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
FTSE 100 at new peak despite fading rate cut hope
London's FTSE 100 hit a new all-time high on Wednesday, shrugging off a hot UK inflation print and fresh falls among technology stocks on Wall Street. The FTSE 100 index closed up 98.92 points, 1.1%, at 9,288.14. It had earlier traded as high as 9,301.19. The FTSE 250 ended up 52.62 points, 0.2%, at 21,885.88, but the AIM All-Share finished 3.48 points lower, 0.5%, at 759.74. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer price inflation picked up to 3.8% in July from 3.6% in June, exceeding FXStreet-cited market consensus expectations of 3.7%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1%, defying the consensus forecast of a 0.1% decrease but slowing from a 0.3% rise in June. Core consumer price inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, picked up to 3.8% annually from 3.7% in June, and against consensus expectations of another 3.7% rate. Annual service price inflation, a gauge which has been in focus in recent months, picked up to 5.0% in July from 4.7% in June, ahead of 4.8% consensus. The ONS said that 'transport, particularly air fares, made the largest upward contribution' to the July annual inflation rate, partly due to the timing of school holidays. Barclays said the figures increase the risk that the Bank of England will hold interest rates steady for longer. Callum McLaren-Stewart, at Citi, thinks the hurdle for a September rate cut now looks 'borderline impossible' although he continues to see a cut in November as likely on the basis of fiscal contraction in the autumn budget. But Pantheon Macroeconomics thinks sticky inflation will keep rates on hold for the rest of the year. 'The big picture remains that inflation is set to stay miles above target for the foreseeable future,' Elliott Jordan-Doak, at Pantheon, said. Rate sensitive housebuilders bucked the upbeat mood on the FTSE 100. Persimmon fell 0.3% and Taylor Wimpey dipped 0.5%. In better news for the sector, average UK house prices increased by 3.7% to £269,000 in the 12 months to June, picking up from a downwardly revised 2.7% in the 12 months to May, according to ONS data. May's figure was revised from growth of 3.9% before, partly reflecting a change in how new build inflation is assessed. House prices rose 3.3% in England, 2.6% in Wales, 5.9% in Scotland and by 5.5% in Northern Ireland from a year ago. Despite the fading rate cut hopes, the pound eased to 1.3468 dollars late on Wednesday afternoon in London, compared with 1.3503 dollars at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro edged down to 1.1661 dollars, lower against 1.1669 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 147.15 yen compared with 147.75 yen. In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris ended slightly lower, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed down 0.6%. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.5% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was at 4.29%, narrowed from 4.31%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was 4.90%, trimmed from 4.91%. Technology stocks bore the brunt of the losses on Wall Street after a report produced by a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggested 95% of companies are getting zero return on their investment in generative artificial intelligence. Russ Mould, at AJ Bell, noted these findings follow hot on the heels of comments from OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman that suggested investors are 'over-excited' in this area. 'For now, this looks like a mild and possibly necessary correction after an extremely strong run for this space and the companies within it. Investors will be watching closely to see if AI stocks stabilise from here or the selling continues. Nvidia's quarterly earnings next week now look even more crucial than they already were,' Mr Mould commented. On the FTSE 100, ConvaTec gained 5.6% as the medical products supplier started a share buyback worth up to 300 million dollars. United Utilities firmed 3.5% as Barclays upgraded to 'overweight' and set a 1,535 pence share price target. But the Nasdaq losses on Wall Street saw Polar Capital Technology Trust and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust – both investors in the technology sector – fall 3.2% and 1.6% respectively. On the FTSE 250, Ithaca Energy shot up 10% after reporting a big jump in half-year profit, confirming its dividend plans, and increasing its 2025 production guidance. The North Sea-focused oil and gas company said pre-tax profit almost tripled to 146.2 million dollars in the second quarter from 52.9 million dollars a year before, as revenue more than doubled to 746.4 million dollars from 361.6 million dollars. Average production in the first half was 123,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 53,000 a year before. Ithaca raised its full-year guidance to between 119,000 and 125,000 boe per day from between 109,000 and 119,000. On AIM, Fevertree Drinks slumped 9.9% as Exane BNP downgraded to 'underperform' with a 740p per share price target. Elsewhere, positive trading updates supported timber distributor James Latham and fishing tackle and equipment retailer Angling Direct, up 3.2% and 6.7% respectively. A barrel of Brent traded at 66.70 dollars late on Wednesday afternoon, up from 66.08 dollars on Tuesday. Gold firmed to 3,341.46 dollars an ounce against 3,325.33 dollars. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were ConvaTec Group, up 13 pence at 244.2p, United Utilities, up 39p at 1,159.5p, Unilever, up 148p at 4,692p, Cola Europacific Partners, up 200p at 6,840p and Imperial Brands, up 85p at 3,141p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 13 pence at 388.5p, Rolls-Royce, down 33.5p at 1,026p, easyJet, down 10.2p at 508.4p, ICG, down 38p at 2,162p and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 17p at 1,066p. Thursday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from recruiter Hays. The global economic calendar on Thursday has a slew of composite PMI readings, UK public sector borrowing data, US weekly jobless claims figures and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hundreds attend solidarity gig in Dublin for Kneecap rapper
Hundreds of people have attended a music session in Dublin city in solidarity with Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh after he appeared in court on Wednesday. Kneecap flags and logos hung from the windows in Connolly Books, which dubs itself Ireland's oldest radical bookshop, in solidarity with O hAnnaidh, Kneecap, and the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine supporters criticised the decision by British authorities to bring a charge against the performer instead of focusing on the Israeli government's actions against the Palestinian people. O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted O hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until September 26, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with Kneecap. Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is 'angry' at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. 'I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza,' she told the PA news agency. 'It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. 'I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. 'When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that.' Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. 'I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing, and they're getting plenty of publicity. 'The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? 'They're supplying a lot of the bombs, and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. 'It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians.' Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. 'I'm here because it's important to for two reasons – first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. 'The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. 'It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain.'
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Macron decries ‘abject' Netanyahu claim of antisemitic surge in France
Emmanuel Macron has hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu for his 'abject' and 'erroneous' remarks after Israel's prime minister claimed that antisemitism had 'surged' in France after the country's decision to recognise a Palestinian state in September. In a statement released late on Tuesday, the office of the French president pushed back against Netanyahu's claim. 'The analysis suggesting that France's decision to recognise the state of Palestine in September is behind the rise in antisemitic violence in France is erroneous, abject, and will not go unanswered,' it said. 'The current period calls for seriousness and responsibility, not generalisation and manipulation.' Relations between the two leaders have been strained since July, when Macron announced that France would become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state at next month's UN general assembly, in hopes of bringing peace to the region. At the time, Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, criticised the decision, saying that France 'rewards terror'. He added: 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.' The move would see France join the group of UN members – at least 145 out of 193 – who now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a tally by the news agency Agence France-Presse. In a letter sent to Macron earlier this week, Netanyahu accused the French president of not doing enough to confront the alarming rise of antisemitism in France. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pour fuels on this antisemitism fire,' Netanyahu wrote. A similar letter, with almost identical wording, was reportedly also sent to Australia's prime minister earlier this week. Responding to the allegations, Macron's office said that France 'protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens' and said that, since 2017, the president had systematically required the government to 'take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of antisemitic acts'. According to the latest figures from France's interior ministry, 504 antisemitic acts were reported across the country between January and May this year, suggesting a 24% decrease from the previous year. The numbers, however, remain high, at double the number of reported incidents from the same time period in 2013. Members of France's Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, have repeatedly warned that antisemitic acts have surged since Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Most recently, the felling of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 prompted outrage across the country, with Macron vowing to punish an act of 'antisemitic hatred'. Tensions between Israel and its traditional allies have been mounting in recent weeks following Macron's promise to recognise a Palestinian state – a move that elicited similar signals from Britain, Canada and Australia. This week, after sending Australia's prime minister a letter accusing him of fuelling antisemitism with his decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Netanyahu doubled down on his criticism of Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, saying he was a 'weak politician who had betrayed Israel'. Albanese brushed off the claims. 'I don't take these things personally,' he told reporters on Wednesday. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect. I engage with them in a diplomatic way.' Hours after his office had sparred with Netanyahu, Macron highlighted plans to co-chair a conference on a two-state solution with Saudi Arabia in New York in September. Macron made the announcement as he criticised Israel's plans for a 'military offensive in Gaza', writing on social media that it 'can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war'. Global pressure has been mounting on Israel to address the situation in Gaza, where at least 62,000 people have been killed and a complete blockade on aid entering the Palestinian territory has led to widespread conditions of starvation. In July, two of Israel's most respected human rights organisations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, said Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and said the country's western allies had a legal and moral duty to stop it. The accusation echoes earlier positions taken by global human rights organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International. Israel denies is it carrying out a genocide, and says the war in Gaza is one of self-defence in response to the cross-border attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
