US President-elect Donald Trump has not withdrawn his threats of possible punitive tariffs against Denmark, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced after informing a parliamentary committee about the content of a phone call with Trump yesterday, DPA reported, BTA reported.
After a meeting of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, she said that the Danish authorities are not preparing for specific measures. "This is a serious situation," the Danish prime minister said at a news conference, quoted by AFP.
The US side noted that a situation could arise in which economic cooperation would be more limited than the current one, Frederiksen said, adding: "We do not want any form of conflict with the Americans on trade."
At a news conference last week, Trump refused to rule out military and economic coercion to gain control of Greenland - the world's largest island - or the Panama Canal. Shortly before Christmas, Trump said that "for the purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity," AFP reported. The United States is Denmark's biggest export market.
Frederiksen said she had briefed the foreign affairs committee on her phone call with Trump on Tuesday, which was about his comments on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. In the 45-minute call with Trump, Frederiksen highlighted statements by Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede, who said "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders" and that the island was not for sale.
A statement from Frederiksen's office said she had told Trump during their phone call that "the decision on independence is up to Greenland itself." On Monday, Egede said the territory was open to even closer ties with the United States. Trump first said he wanted to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first term as president - a proposal that was quickly rejected by Greenland and Denmark, AFP reports.