Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
A highly anticipated meeting between Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. is set to take place today in the White House.
The ongoing political crisis between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland reaches a new chapter Wednesday, when Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Greenlandic Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, is set to have a meeting in the White House.
The U.S. delegation will consist of Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
All of Denmark and Greenland, as well as probably a lot of Europeans and Americans as well, will be looking closely at what the meeting results in, as the Trump administrations demand to “own” Greenland has been thorougly rejected by both Denmark and Greenland.
But inside the U.S., there are also powers working against an American annexation of Greenland. In fact, two senators have just introduced a bill to ban Trump from taking Greenland.
The NATO Unity Protection Act
Democratic Senator, Jeanne Shaheen, and Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski, Tuesday said in a press release, that they have introduced the NATO Unity Protection Act (Denmark is part of NATO, and as Greenland is part of the Danish Kingdom, Greenland is protected by NATO as well).
The legislation aims to prohibit “the use of U.S. Department of Defense or Department of State funds to blockade, occupy, annex or otherwise assert control over the sovereign territory of a NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council,” the press release states.
“Our NATO alliances are what set the United States apart from our adversaries. We have friends and allies who are willing to stand firmly alongside us as the strongest line of defense to keep those who work to undermine peace and stability from making sweeping advances globally,” said Senator Murkowski.
“This bill sends a clear message that recent rhetoric around Greenland deeply undermines America’s own national security interests and faces bipartisan opposition in Congress,” said Senator Shaheen.
What the legislation includes
According to the press release, the NATO Unity Protection Act would:
- Prohibit the use of Department of Defense funds to blockade, occupy, annex, conduct military operations against or otherwise assert control over the sovereign territory of a NATO member state without that state’s authorization or approval by the North Atlantic Council
- Affirm that the unified strength of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is critical to U.S. national security and foreign policy
- Clarify that nothing in the Act limits the ability of the United States to defend itself or an ally against an armed attack or a credible threat of imminent attack.
The full text of the bill can be read here (opens new tab).
Sources: Office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, The Guardian, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), Reuters
