Macron visits Greenland in show of support after Trump's threats
PARIS : French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greenland today carrying a message of 'European solidarity and support' for the Danish autonomous territory coveted by US President Donald Trump, located at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Arctic.
Macron will be the first foreign head of state to set foot on the vast territory – roughly nine times larger than the UK, with 80% of its area covered in ice – since Trump's annexation threats.
Trump has repeatedly said the US needs the strategically located, resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica are 'not for sale', Macron said Monday at a UN oceans summit, remarks clearly directed at Trump's expansionist claims.
'I'm going to say: 'We're here, and we're ready to reinvest ourselves so that there is no preying'' on it, Macron said a few days ahead of his trip.
Following his arrival in Greenland's capital Nuuk at 11.30am, the French leader will visit a glacier, a hydroelectric power plant and a Danish frigate.
He will be accompanied throughout his visit by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Macron's trip will be 'a signal in itself made at the request of Danish and Greenlandic authorities', his office said.
'Not for sale'
The Danish invitation to Macron contrasts sharply with the reception granted to US vice-president JD Vance, whose one-day trip to Greenland in March was seen as a provocation by both Nuuk and Copenhagen.
During his visit to the US Pituffik military base, Vance castigated Denmark for not having 'done a good job by the people of Greenland', alleging they had neglected security.
The Pituffik base is an essential part of Washington's missile defence infrastructure, its location putting it on the shortest route for missiles fired from Russia at the US.
Polls indicate that the vast majority of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants want to become independent from Denmark – but do not wish to become part of the US.
Denmark has also repeatedly stressed that Greenland 'is not for sale'.
The Arctic has gained geostrategic importance as the race for rare earths heats up and as melting ice caused by global warming opens up new shipping routes.
As a result, Copenhagen in January announced a US$2 billion plan to boost its military presence in the Arctic region.
Nato also plans to set up a Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Norway above the Arctic Circle, as Russia aims to bolster its military presence in the region.
During his visit, Macron plans to discuss Arctic security and how to include the territory in 'European action' to contribute to its development, while 'respecting its sovereignty', his office said.
Mount Nunatarsuaq
Macron will also see first-hand the effects of climate change when he visits a glacier on Mount Nunatarsuaq, about 30km from Nuuk.
Greenland's ice sheet melted 17 times faster than the historical average during a May 15-21 heatwave in Greenland, a recent report showed.
France intends to 'massively reinvest in the knowledge of these ecosystems', following the footsteps of famed French explorer Paul-Emile Victor who carried out multiple expeditions to Greenland, Macron's office said.
Greenlandic authorities recently designated Victor's hut, built in 1950 in Quervain Bay in the north, as an historic structure.
At a hydroelectric power station in Buksefjorden, located 600m inside a mountain and funded by the European Union, the three leaders will discuss Greenland's decarbonisation and energy supply.
Unlike Denmark, Greenland is not part of the European Union but is on the list of overseas territories associated with the bloc.
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