Denmark approves US military bases on Danish soil as Trump eyes Greenland
Ninety-four lawmakers voted for the bill, with 11 against. The legislation now goes to Danish King Frederik X for his signature.
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Greenland's prime minister previously said U.S. statements about the island have been disrespectful and it 'will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.'
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American Military News
6 hours ago
- American Military News
Denmark Takes EU Presidency As Questions Over Security Swirl
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. Denmark has taken over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union as questions swirl over Europe's security and trade and a war still raging on its eastern flank. 'Europe is at a defining moment in time,' Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in her welcome message as the country took the helm of Europe's leadership from July 1. 'The world that secured our freedom and made us prosper can no longer be taken for granted.' While there isn't much Copenhagen can do about some of the issues that will face the 27-nation bloc given the veto power being wielded by some capitals, Denmark is expected to push for the EU to offset diminishing aid coming from Washington. Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2, the first direct peace talks since the initial weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched on February 24, 2022. The negotiations yielded agreements on prisoner swaps and the exchange of bodies of soldiers killed in the war, but produced no progress toward a cease-fire, let alone a peace deal. A month later, it seems a peace deal is no closer at hand. Then there's the transatlantic trade row that risks erupting again next week around the July 9 deadline set by the Trump administration for a deal on tariffs. If no agreement is reached, EU goods going to the US could face 50 percent tariffs. The European Commission is in charge of what have been intense negotiations between Washington and Brussels on a new longer-term deal. Denmark's role will be in the background, trying to get all member states onboard with whatever the Commission compromises on, which can be tough as some countries are more dependent on trade than others. The same is true for potential trade deals that the Commission can strike later this year with countries such Australia and India. EU countries need to sign off on these deals, but expect a lot of resistance as protectionism grows among some members with major farming sectors. And then there's the elephant — in this case the world's biggest island — in the corner of the room: Greenland. Denmark wants to avoid any transatlantic dealings in coming months over the island, which is under Danish control but coveted by US President Donald Trump. The topic reportedly wasn't broached at a recent NATO summit in The Hague that Trump attended, and Danish officials hope this remains the case during the presidency. A recent election result in Greenland has also strengthened Copenhagen's hand and there could even be renewed calls for the territory, which withdrew from the European Union back in 1985, to be part of the bloc again. For now, Denmark at least has the backing of all other member states when it comes to its territorial integrity, but this issue can resurface again at any time, posing numerous awkward questions in Brussels and beyond. Another issue that will dominate the Danish autumn is the EU's new long-term budget beginning in 2028. The European Commission will fire the opening salvo in mid-July by presenting a basic framework for the five-year period and then come back in September with a more developed concept. Don't expect a deal any time soon. The long-term EU budget, which will be a pot of money well north of 1 trillion euros, is the most fought-over issue lingering over Brussels. It will consume the city and pit institutions and member states against each other for months, even years, to come. Denmark will simply make sure that talks don't boil over from the get-go. So what of EU foreign policy and enlargement? On foreign policy, the bloc's top diplomat will help guide potential sanctions on Georgia, which has been criticized for backsliding on democratic reforms and lurching away from Brussels and toward Moscow. But with Hungary and Slovakia expected to veto any tough measures, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas will have a tough time brokering a deal with teeth. The same is likely to be true of future sanctions on Russia even though the club's 18th round is expected to be agreed in the coming days, though likely without the signature move to lower the Russian oil cap from the current $60 per barrel to $45 after the idea failed to gain support from Washington. While Denmark is keen to accelerate EU enlargement and has made it a priority during the next six months, various national vetoes are likely to make progress minimal. Poland, which had the presidency before Denmark, had big hopes here but ended up with Albania opening some negotiation chapters and Montenegro closing one. Expect that these two Western Balkan states will continue their steady march toward membership in the coming half a year, but otherwise Denmark will likely face the same frustrations as Warsaw. Hungary continues to bloc Ukraine from opening accession talks and there is real fear among EU officials that Budapest will continue to do so until its parliamentary election in April 2026. The tricky question for Denmark will be if it attempts to decouple Moldova from Ukraine as they so far have progressed hand in hand. If it happens, it is likely to be in September just ahead of crucial Moldovan parliamentary elections later that month. Hungary's behavior will make calls for the country to be stripped of its voting rights grow, but to do that unanimity is needed, and Slovakia — and possibly others — are unlikely to give that a green light. Backlash to that could come from other countries in the form of reluctance to give the go ahead to open and close accession chapters with 'Hungarian favorites' such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, while North Macedonia, already blocked by a Bulgarian veto for two years, will wonder why no one is putting pressure on Sofia. Kosovo, which sent an EU application in 2022, will presumably also see its bid to join club continue to languish in the Council. Denmark would like to send the application for a European Commission assessment, but there is no consensus among member states, and Copenhagen's case is not helped by Pristina's inability to form a government months after a general election.
Business Insider
10 hours ago
- Business Insider
Europe's top negotiator says it's impossible to get a trade deal done by Trump's July deadline
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said it was "impossible" to reach a detailed trade deal by President Donald Trump's July 9 deadline. Von der Leyen said the US and European Union were aiming for a July 9 "agreement in principle" trade deal, which would be light on details. She was speaking at a press conference in the Danish city of Aarhus on Thursday, at a European Union summit to mark the start of Denmark's six-month-long EU presidency. "It's a huge task because we have the largest trade volume globally between the European Union and the United States, 1.5 trillion euros, very complex and a huge quantity," she said. She added, "Indeed, what we are aiming at is an agreement in principle. Because I mean, such a volume in 90 days, an agreement in detail, impossible." The European Union was one of the hardest hit by the slew of tariffs Trump announced on April 2, seeing a tariff rate of 20%. Responding to the tariffs, Von der Leyen said in an April statement on X that Trump's tariffs were a "major blow to the world economy" with "dire" consequences for millions of people. Trump later issued a 90-day pause to allow for trade negotiations, and all of the US's trade partners were subject to an interim 10% tariff rate. In February, months before the April 2 tariffs, Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, and the EU retaliated with tariffs on 26 billion euros, or $28.4 billion, worth of US goods. In May, he floated raising the EU's tariff rate to 50% from June 1, saying the group was "very difficult to deal with" and the US's trade negotiations with the EU were "going nowhere." However, Trump retracted the threat after a call with Von der Leyen. He said she had requested an extension on the June 1 deadline. "I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so," Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 25. On May 26, Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said in a press conference that Von der Leyen and Trump had "agreed both to fast-track the trade negotiations and to stay in close contact." Representatives of the European Commission and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Los Angeles Times
18 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ukraine's European backers mull over their options after the U.S. pauses weapons shipments
AARHUS, Denmark — In the windswept gardens of a Danish chateau, President Volodymyr Zelensky and some of Ukraine's main European backers weighed options Thursday for filling the gap after the Trump administration paused weapons shipments to his country. The U.S. move affects high-demand munitions, including Patriot missiles, the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile and shorter-range Stinger missiles. They are needed to counter incoming missiles, bring down Russian aircraft or counter drone attacks. But they are in short supply, none are cheap, and some simply can't be sourced elsewhere. 'We count on the continuation of American support because there are some items which Europe … doesn't have for today,' Zelensky told reporters in Aarhus, Denmark, as a military helicopter hovered above and security personnel watched nearby woods. Chief among them: Patriot missile systems and interceptors. 'This is crucial,' he said. Russia's new push to capture more territory has put Ukraine's defenses under severe strain, with the war now in its fourth year. Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. U.S.-led efforts to find a peace settlement have stalled. It's still unclear even to Zelensky what the White House intends for the weapons shipments. 'I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump,' he said. Many in the European Union are keen to step up. They see Russia's invasion as a threat to their own security. Officials have warned that President Vladimir Putin could try to test Europe's defenses in three to five years. 'All of us hope that the U.S. will continue the support for Ukraine,' Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, flanking Zelensky. 'But if there are any gaps, then I personally believe that we should be willing to fill in.' Denmark — a key Ukraine backer — has just taken over the EU presidency for six months. 'The war in Ukraine has never only been about Ukraine. This is a war about the future of Europe,' she said. Most EU countries are members of NATO, which has just agreed that allies should invest 5% of the gross domestic product in defense. Russia is the chief threat that warrants such spending, although Trump did cajole the Europeans and Canada into agreeing on the figure, which will require them to spend tens of billions of dollars more over the next decade. Since the Trump administration warned that its security priorities lie elsewhere and that Europe must fend for itself, the European Commission's priority has been to find extra money. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched the EU's big funding gun with $176 billion that countries, including Ukraine, can use to make joint purchases of priority weapons. The EU's executive branch also has loosened the rules on countries running up debt if they use the money for defense purposes. It hopes that hundreds of billions of extra euros could be made available, if members use the opportunity to spend more. Then there are sanctions against Russia. EU nations are working on yet another raft of measures, but they are getting harder to agree on. It now falls to Denmark to try to chaperone the latest sanctions through. 'Russia is on the brink of recession,' noted von der Leyen, standing next to Zelensky. 'Russia's overheated war economy is coming to its limits. So for us, it is important to increase the pressure so that [Putin] comes to the negotiation table.' Frederiksen's government has led the way in investing in Ukraine's defense industry, which can produce arms and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than elsewhere in Europe. She believes it's the most effective way to help. She also recently invited Ukrainian companies to set up shop on safer ground in Denmark, and the first companies could start production there in September. Danish officials are urging their European partners to follow suit. Ukraine estimates that about 40% of its defense industrial capacity could be capitalized on if more European money were spent there. Frederiksen said that helping Ukraine to join the EU is a security priority, but Hungary stands in the way. Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists that Ukraine should remain a buffer zone between Russia and NATO countries. EU membership is meant to be a merit-based process, and Denmark has said that 'all political and practical means' will be used to persuade Hungary — a small EU country and the only one standing in Ukraine's way — to lift its veto. Zelensky said Thursday that Ukraine has made significant progress in aligning with the EU's rules despite the war, and called for the first phase of membership negotiations to begin as soon as possible. 'Sometimes it's just difficult to be together in one building, all the government [and] the parliamentarians because of the attacks,' he explained. Calls are mounting for the Europeans to use Russian assets that they froze after the full-scale invasion in 2022 to help Ukraine. At the end of March, about $320 billion worth — the bulk of the assets — was being held by Belgian clearing house Euroclear. The interest earned on those assets is being used to fund a $50-billion scheme set up by the Group of Seven powers to keep Ukraine's economy afloat. Some European leaders worry that confiscating Russia's assets would deprive Ukraine of those profits — estimated at more than $3.5 billion a year. They fear it would also be fraught with legal obstacles and could harm the reputation of the euro single currency on international markets. Another possibility might be for the Europeans to buy weapons directly from the United States but asked Thursday about that possibility — as well as the confiscation of Russian assets — neither Frederiksen nor von der Leyen would comment. Cook writes for the Associated Press.
