Danish PM says country is 'ready to defend' Greenland

ANKARA, Turkey, July 8, (AP): Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump's renewed demands that the U.S. should take control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, saying that "Greenland is of course not for sale.” "We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people's right for self-determination,” Frederiksen said ahead of a meeting of the leaders of NATO member countries in Turkey.

"We are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.” Trump reopened old wounds over Greenland on the eve of the meeting by insisting that the United States should control the semiautonomous island. NATO is founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others’ territory, not threaten to seize it.

Frederiksen said Denmark is "ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack, and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other. Iceland’s Prime Minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, said Greenland "belongs to the people of Greenland,” and called for unity among the NATO allies in the face of external dangers.

"We have threats coming from outside the alliance,” Frostadóttir said. "Russia is their biggest threat when it comes to these NATO allies. We need to focus on us and how we stick together.” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said from Ankara on Wednesday that he believes the United States is fully committed to the military organization, and praised Trump for taking forceful action against Iran overnight.

"I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating a ceasefire, we see what happened yesterday,” Rutte said of the series of US strikes on Iran after Tehran struck three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. "I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react,” Rutte said.

The US strikes on Iran, as well as the revoking of a license allowing it to sell its oil on global markets, were retaliation, and underscored the fragility of an interim deal to end months of fighting between the two countries. Trump launched the attacks shortly after leaving a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and so far has not spoken about the strikes.