US warns Europe to take Greenland security seriously or face action

US Vice President JD Vance urged European leaders to take President Trump's interest in Greenland seriously, highlighting its strategic importance for missile defence and warning the US would have to 'do something about it' if Europe doesn't.

US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday (local time) that the European leaders should take President Trump seriously on Greenland, seeing how "hostile adversaries" are showing interest in the region. Calling it important not only for American missile defence, but also the world missile defence, Vance said that Europe should take its security more seriously, otherwise the US would have to "do something about it".

Take Trump seriously on Greenland: VP Vance to Europe

When asked about his message to European leaders on Greenland, the US VP said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet the leaders of Greenland and Denmark soon and highlighted the importance of Greenland. "Secretary Rubio, I believe, is meeting with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland next week. I would say it is, but maybe it's the week after that. We'll continue to deliver some of these messages in private, some of them in public, but I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the President of the United States seriously," Vice President Vance said at the White House Press briefing.

He added, "What has the President said, number one, Greenland is really important, not just to America's missile defence, but to the world's missile defence. Number two, we know that there are hostile adversaries that have shown a lot of interest in that particular territory, that particular slice of the world, so what we're asking our European friends to do is to take the security of that land mass more seriously, because if they're not, the United States is going to have to do something about it. What that is, I'll leave that to the President, as we continue to engage in diplomacy with our European friends and everybody on this particular topic."

White House mulls 'range of options' to acquire Greenland

On Tuesday, the White House said on Tuesday that it is considering "a range of options" to acquire Greenland, and that the use of military is not off the table, CNN reported, citing Karoline Leavitt.

According to CNN, Leavitt said that the US President has made it well-known that "acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States" and is important to deter the adversaries in the Arctic region. "President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief's disposal," Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNN.

Trump attacks NATO over defence spending

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the intergovernmental military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), claiming that the alliance depended entirely on Washington for its survival, shortly after European leaders pushed back against his remarks on taking over Greenland and reaffirming NATO unity.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that before his intervention, most NATO members were not meeting their defence spending commitments and were relying on Washington to shoulder the burden. The US President stated that he pushed NATO members to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, asserting that allies now pay "immediately" because of his personal influence. "Remember, for all of those big NATO fans, they were at 2% GDP, and most weren't paying their bills, UNTIL I CAME ALONG. The USA was, foolishly, paying for them! I, respectfully, got them to 5% GDP, AND THEY PAY, immediately. Everyone said that couldn't be done, but it could, because, beyond all else, they are all my friends," Trump said.

His remarks came a day after European leaders issued a joint statement pushing back against Trump's renewed remarks about Greenland, asserting that Arctic security must be addressed collectively. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)