French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he was visiting Greenland to show French and European Union solidarity with the Arctic island after US President Donald Trump's threats to take it over.
Asked about those threats as he arrived in Greenland, Macron said: "I don't think that's what allies do ... it's important that Denmark and the Europeans commit themselves to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected."
Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark with the right to declare independence. Both the Greenland and Danish governments say it is not for sale and only Greenlanders can determine their future.
Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island, and has not ruled out force. His vice president, JD Vance, visited a US military base there in March.
Macron, the first foreign leader to visit Greenland since Trump's explicit threats to "get" the island, was invited by the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark. He has said his visit is meant to prevent any "preying" on the territory.
"France has stood by us since the first statements about taking our land emerged. This support is both necessary and gratifying," Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on Facebook days ahead of Macron's visit.
"I'm not worried that he (Trump) will be furious. It should be seen as us wanting to create more development in Greenland," Nielsen told Danish broadcaster DR on Sunday when asked if he believed Macron's visit would upset the US president.
Asked if Macron would deliver an explicit message to the United States during his visit, an adviser to the French president told reporters: "The trip is a signal in itself," without mentioning Trump.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told RTL radio on Sunday: "Greenland is a European territory and it is normal that Europe, and notably France, show their interest."
According to an IFOP poll for NYC.eu published on Saturday, 77% of French people and 56% of Americans disapprove of an annexation of Greenland by the US and 43% of the French would back using French military power to prevent a US invasion.
Macron will visit the capital, Nuuk, as well as a hydropower station funded by the EU and a glacier, and discuss Arctic security and climate change with his hosts.
Though Denmark is an EU member, Greenland is outside the bloc. The French adviser said the visit would be an opportunity to discuss how to give Greenland's association partnership with the EU a "new dimension".
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made several visits to Paris after Trump's threats to seek French and European backing, and has placed orders for French-made surface-to-air missiles, in a shift of focus for Copenhagen.
Enlisting the EU's only nuclear power is a way for Denmark, long one of Washington's most loyal allies in Europe, to project a form of hard power towards a suddenly more aggressive United States, said Florian Vidal of the Paris-based IFRI think tank.
"The Trump administration's more aggressive posture is a shock that makes the French vision of Europe, one that is more autonomous, appear more reasonable for Denmark," he said. "From a Nordic point of view, France is a military power that counts."
"I think the US president is serious. It's a difficult situation we're in. That's why it's really important that the French president comes, because it helps to emphasize the necessary European unity in this situation," Frederiksen told DR on Sunday.
