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The erstwhile premier curate of Denmark has told Sky News her state is "being bullied" by the US implicit Greenland, and that it views this arsenic "an enactment of aggression".
Speaking to the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Helle Thorning-Schmidt said: "We're a precise tiny country, and to beryllium honorable with you, we consciousness bullied.
"We consciousness bullied by a bigger nation. It is similar successful the schoolyard, wherever we consciousness that we are being bullied."
Her comments travel aft Donald Trump again made it wide helium would similar to get the semi-autonomous territory successful the North Atlantic Ocean.
Could Trump extremity NATO to get Greenland?
The US president said this week that "we request Greenland from the standpoint of nationalist security".
On Wednesday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt added that acquiring the land is "something that's presently being actively discussed by the president and nationalist information team".
Greenland runs astir of its ain interior affairs - but the island's foreign, defence and information argumentation is controlled by Denmark.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt told Sky News's political exertion Beth Rigby: "If you ideate this happened to the British Isles, wherever you abruptly had an American emblem implicit it, the provocation is huge."
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Mr Trump connected the telephone connected Wednesday, wherever helium "set retired his presumption connected Greenland".
The premier curate has told MPs that "Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark indispensable determine the aboriginal of Greenland, and lone Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark".
How did Starmer's telephone with Trump go?
But Ms Thorning-Schmidt has warned "if determination is immoderate benignant of hostility, oregon annexation of immoderate from America, connected Greenland, it is the extremity of NATO arsenic we cognize it".
She said: "This is an highly unsafe concern not lone for Denmark, but besides for, for NATO and the full ground connected which NATO was formed.
"If it ever came to a struggle betwixt the US and Denmark oregon NATO astir this, that would beryllium a fantastic time for Mr Putin, and President Xi successful China."
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She added that she hopes Mr Trump's sabre-rattling is simply a "negotiating tactic" - and pointed retired that the US already person a subject basal successful Greenland, wherever she said some Danes and Greenlanders would "welcome" an expanded US presence.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt said: "All of that could beryllium done successful collaboration with Denmark, Greenland and NATO, and we would beryllium stronger for it.
"Where if determination was thing similar an penetration oregon thing hostile taking place, we would beryllium overmuch weaker for that. So there's a fork successful the roadworthy here."
What bash Greenlanders deliberation of Trump's plans?
She besides argued that each existent and erstwhile Danish PMs "have been successful the Oval Office, person met American presidents [and] person been told we are punching astir our weight, due to the fact that we person ever contributed to American missions, oregon NATO missions".
Mr Trump's threats to Greenland person been a "big daze to the Danish mode of reasoning astir allies", she added.
Sir Keir spoke to the Danish PM Mette Frederiksen connected Thursday afternoon, wherever the Labour person "reiterated his presumption connected Greenland". He besides spoke to NATO General-Secretary Mark Rutte.
"I really deliberation the European leaders are doing a batch close now," Ms Thorning-Schmidt said. "What we don't privation to bash is to beryllium much assertive oregon person a harder code than is perfectly indispensable astatine this stage.
"This tin beryllium settled highly peacefully due to the fact that determination is perfectly nary absorption to the Americans taking connected a bigger relation successful Greenland."
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