Macron criticises Trump's threats against Greenland
French President Emmanuel Macron criticised US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland, as he made a visit to the Danish autonomous territory.
"That's not what allies do," Macron said in Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
Mr Macron is the first foreign head of state to visit the vast territory at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Arctic, since Mr Trump's annexation threats.
Since returning to the White House in January, Mr Trump has repeatedly said America needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
"Everybody thinks in France, in the European Union, that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken," Macron told reporters as he wound up a six-hour visit accompanied by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Speaking at a press conference held outdoors at the Old Port in Nuuk yesterday, the French leader said his trip was aimed at conveying France's and the EU's "solidarity" with Greenland.
He stressed the island's "territorial integrity" as dozens of Greenlanders cheered and waved their territory's red-and-white flag.
Denmark has also repeatedly stressed that Greenland "is not for sale".
Mr Macron earlier kicked off his visit with talks on board a Danish frigate with Mr Frederiksen and Mr Nielsen, discussing among other things "the increasing cooperation" between Russia and China in the region, he said.
France was ready to hold joint military exercises with Arctic countries, under the framework of NATO and the NB8 Nordic and Baltic countries, to ensure security in the region, Mr Macron said.
Copenhagen in January announced a $2 billion plan to boost its military presence in the Arctic region.
Mr Macron then visited a glacier to see firsthand the effects of global warming.
His trip to Greenland was "a signal in itself, made at the request of Danish and Greenlandic authorities", his office said ahead of the visit.
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