‘Stop the Threats!’ Denmark Warns Trump to Quit His Sabre-Rattling on Greenland

Danish Ambassador to the UN Christina Markus Lassen spoke before the UN Security Council on Monday and appeared to warn that President Donald Trump’s sabre-rattling about taking Greenland from Denmark would violate international law and the UN Charter. The ambassador’s comments echoed the Danish prime minister’s statement over the weekend, urging Trump to “stop the threats.”

“Denmark recalls the foundational principle of international law that forbids states from threatening or using force against another state’s territorial integrity and political independence,” Markus Lassen said at a Security Council meeting called to discuss the US’s recent incursion into Venezuela and arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

“This imperative is inscribed in Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the UN Charter. Members of the UN Security Council have a special responsibility to uphold these principles. The principles of sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity must be respected. The inviolability of borders is not up for negotiation. These are universal, sacrosanct principles enshrined in international law. They apply everywhere,” Markus Lassen concluded.

Trump has recently reiterated his claims about the U.S. acquiring Greenland, a Danish territory. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you,” Trump said Sunday on Air Force One.

Katie Miller, the wife of top Trump aide Stephen Miller, kicked up a firestorm of anger online over the weekend by posting an image with Greenland covered in the U.S. flag and writing, “SOON.”

Trump’s comments have sparked anger in Denmark in recent months. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen released a statement Sunday, saying, “I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland.”

“The Kingdom of Denmark – and thus Greenland – is part of NATO and is therefore covered by the alliance’s security guarantee. We already have a defense agreement between the Kingdom and the United States today, which gives the United States wide access to Greenland,” Frederiksen continued, adding:

I would therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have said very clearly that they are not for sale.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also hit back at Trump over the weekend, calling his remarks “very rude and disrespectful.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.