EU leaders spoke of relief and “common sense” prevailing before an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday (22 January), focused on how to deal with a new era of transatlantic relations under US president Donald Trump leadership.
The meeting was convened after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on several member states directly linked to the crisis in Greenland. But it turned out to be a broader discussion on US-EU relations after an announcement on the suspension of new tariffs on Wednesday.
“When Europe is not divided, when we stand together, and when we are clear and strong, also in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show,” said Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen.
She talked about the need to work together with the US “respectfully” and “without threatening each other,” as messages during the last weeks coming from the other side of the Atlantic, online and offline, triggered panic in Europe over a possible annexation of Greenland.
"We have asked Nato to be more present in the Arctic region," she also said, adding that "a permanent presence" from Nato in the Arctic region, including around Greenland, was necessary.
As Europe was getting ready to hit back at Trump's tariff threats, Nato chief Mark Rutte managed to persuade Trump on Wednesday, when they agreed on a “framework of a future deal” based on the existing Denmark and the US defence cooperation agreement – which is still unclear.
"It's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially it's total access. It's - there's no end, there's no time limit," Trump told US broadcaster Fox News in Davos.
But Frederiksen assured that there can be no compromises on sovereignty. “We cannot negotiate about that, because it's part of the very basic democratic values,” she said, adding that there was still room for discussion with the US on Arctic security and Greenland.
Frederiksen is expected to meet with Rutte on Friday. "My impression is that he [Rutte] has worked loyally to uphold unity within Nato, and it is very positive that Nato now wants to do more to strengthen security in and around the Arctic,” said Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
“Our sovereignty and our territorial integrity are non-negotiable. These are our red lines,” said Greenland's premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Thursday in a statement on social media.
“Dialogue is always the way forward,” Nielsen also said, referring to talks between the US, Denmark and Greenland as the platform “where disagreements should be handled”.
Ahead of the emergency meeting, EU leaders voiced support for Denmark while expressing a sense of unity and relief for not entering into a tit-for-tat of tariffs and countermeasures that would have damaged both European and American businesses.
“Common sense prevailed,” said Irish prime minister Micheál Martin.
But a new era of transatlantic relations is here to stay, as Green PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis admitted: “There was clear tension over the past weeks between the United States and Europe”.
“We are happy that de-escalation is on the table for now,” said EU Parliament president Roberta Metsola. “If there is one thing we learned this week is that we need to be autonomous and we need to be strong”.
Even with the EU’s preventive actions on the table and narratives of European power, convincing Trump to remove the tariff threat was something only Nato chief Rutte seemed to crack.
“Although everybody is relieved with the recent announcements, we have also seen in this one-year period that we are ready for a lot of unpredictability,” EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said at the doorsteps of the summit.
EU leaders also use the opportunity to talk about unity, as the tariffs were seen as an attack on the whole 27-nation bloc despite only targeting a few countries directly.
French president Emmanuel Macron said: “What we can conclude is that when Europe remains united with the instruments at its disposal, it can be respected,” he said.
“The most important thing, I think it's obvious for all of us, is to keep Europe United. It works. It's one of the most critical moments in our relations with our partners, with our friends. This is why our unity is really priceless,” said Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.
“It has become clear that unity and determination on the European side can indeed make a difference,” German chancellor Friedrich Merz also said ahead of the summit.
Speaking earlier to Davos on Thursday, Merz had talked about the rise of “great powers” shaking the international order, describing this as a not a “cozy place”.
“Our greatest strength remains the ability to build partnerships and alliances among equals based on mutual trust and respect,” he also told Davos, referring to Europe's strength to fight “great power politics”.
But Sweden stood out, slamming Trump’s action as “blackmail”.
“We do not accept to be blackmailed by any country and even less so by an ally,” Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson said.
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