France offered to deploy troops to Greenland after Donald Trump repeatedly signaled he’d like to annex the Danish territory, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.
Barrot said in an interview with Sud Radio that France had “started discussing” sending troops to Greenland, but it wasn’t “Denmark’s wish” to follow through with the idea.
Barrot added that during a European Union foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday that the other ministers were “were ready to consider” sending troops and expressed their “very strong support” for Denmark.
Despite the offer of military support, Barrot said he didn’t think Trump would actually take Greenland by force.
“It won’t happen, people don’t invade EU territories,” he said.
The comments come as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visits key European allies to shore up support in the face of Trump’s threats to use economic or military force to take control of Greenland.
The Financial Times reported last week that Danish officials are “freaked out” after Trump’s “fiery” call with Frederiksen about a possible annexation of Greenland.
Frederiksen spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, and will also meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Barrot reaffirmed France’s support for Denmark in the Sud Radio interview Monday.
“If Denmark calls for help, France will be there,” he said. “The European borders are sovereign whether it’s north, south, east and west ... nobody can allow themselves to mess around with our borders.”
