Greenland PM on US threats: 'extremely difficult situation'

The Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen says France stood by Greenland “without hesitation in this extremely difficult situation", after the United States warned this month that it wanted to take control of the enormous autonomous Danish territory.

Nielsen said that "it's about the values of the world and respect for international order".

He was speaking as he joined the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in Paris for talks with the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Macron said that France would "continue to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty through the UN Charter", adding that Europe "must reinforce our position of defence in the Arctic".

Frederiksen said that Arctic security is a priority, emphasising that "the world order is under pressure, changing rapidly, and we need a stronger Europe than ever to defend our values".

The talks in Paris come after the US and NATO announced a "framework" agreement had been reached after talks between the US president and the NATO secretary-general at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Since then, the US position on Greenland has softened, after repeated assertions by President Donald Trump earlier in the year that Washington needed to take control or buy Greenland for US national security reasons.

France was one of the eight European nations targeted by Washington with the prospect of new tariffs to be applied due to their joint opposition to the US proposals to take control of the self-governing Danish territory.

The French president made a visit to Nuuk in 2025, and a French consular office is due to open in the Greenlandic capital next month.

Macron, who once again wore sunglasses indoors for the news conference due to a benign eye condition, said that France would "stand with Denmark and Greenland today and tomorrow", as the European Union looks to step up investment in the Danish territory.