The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, invoked this Wednesday “the principle of the inviolability of borders” in the face of Donald Trump’s threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. This principle, as the chancellor recalled, applies both to countries like Russia and Western allies like the United States.
Scholz, in a brief statement without questions in Berlin, explained that he had just spoken with several European leaders and that they had all expressed “a certain incomprehension regarding the current statements coming from the United States.” This is added to the interventions of Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and Trump’s key ally, sowing confusion in a European Union expectant and restless in the face of Trump’s second presidency.
The chancellor, who faces a complicated campaign for the elections on February 23, has declared: “The principle of the inviolability of borders applies to any country, no matter if it is located in the East or West. And all States must abide by this principle, no matter if it is a small country or a powerful State.” And he added: “This is a fundamental principle of international law and a central element of what we call Western values. On this question there can and should be no doubt.”
The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, recalled on the France Inter network that “Greenland is a territory of the European Union.” “It is not acceptable to allow other nations of the world, whatever they may be, to question our sovereign borders,” he added. “If the question is whether the United States will invade Greenland, the answer is no,” Barrot responded to interviewers. “If the question is whether we have entered an era in which the law of the strongest returns, the answer is yes,” he concluded.
Trump’s threats to Denmark, Canada and also Panama add to the interventions of Elon Musk, master of the social network X and Trump donor and collaborator, in British and German politics. French President Emmanuel Macron has accused the magnate of “supporting a new international of reactionaries” and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused him of “spreading lies and disinformation” and “amplifying the discourse of the extreme right.”
