Denmark

Denmark’s former ambassador to NATO, veteran diplomat Michael Zilmer-Johns, had harsh words for the Trump administration as Danish and US officials prepare to discuss the future of the small European nation. semi-autonomous territory of Green Earth.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he will meet with Danish officials next week, but has not specified where or when. While Zlimer-Johns criticized the Trump administration’s stated intention to turn the world’s largest and most strategically located island into part of the USspoke pragmatically and hopefully about the future of the relationship between the United States and Denmark and the future of the transatlantic NATO alliance that the United States has led for decades.

Below are highlights from News themezone’ interview with the Danish diplomat.

News themezone: About all this speech from the White House about taking Greenland, how do you feel?

Michael Zilmer-Johns: Well, I was surprised, as I think almost all Danes and all Greenlanders were, because, in our opinion, the United States has everything it needs for its security in Greenland. There is a huge base there. It has the potential to grow. We have a defense agreement specifically on Greenland with the United States that dates back to 1951.

I am angry because I believe this is an affront to an ally that has supported the United States in Afghanistan, in Iraq and around the world. Wherever they asked us to participate, we did. So I think it’s totally ungrateful.

News themezone: Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that if Trump attacked Denmark to take Greenland, it would be the end of NATO. In his words, “everything stops, including NATO and, with it, the security established since the end of the Second World War.” As Denmark’s former top representative to NATO, to what extent do you fear the end of NATO?

Zilmer-Johns: I am concerned, but I remain confident that better advice will prevail in the end, that we will find some kind of agreement with the Trump administration on Greenland so that NATO can continue as it should. In any case, it will be a very different NATO, because it is clear that the Americans are withdrawing from Europe and Europe is going to step forward. So in the future NATO will be more European. But I hope we can stay united.”

News themezone: There has been criticism that a possible use of military force by the United States would basically be one NATO member against another NATO member in the nearly 80 years of this alliance’s existence. In your opinion, would the use of US military force trigger Article 5 (my addition: the mutual defense clause that states that an attack on one member is an attack on all 32 NATO nations)?

Zilmer-Johns: I mean, of course, it is absurd to have a situation where two NATO countries are in a military conflict. If it was an outside power that did this to Denmark, then of course that would trigger Article 5. In a situation where it is the strongest member of NATO that would attack little Denmark, I think this would be something that NATO could not participate in because it is a conflict within NATO and not between NATO and the foreign power.

I still find it very difficult to imagine that we would see real combat between Danish and American soldiers. But of course, the Danish soldiers in Greenland have a standing order to defend the territory against any aggression.

But if that were to happen, at the end of the day, I think the Danish government would tell the Danish troops to stand down because, of course, a military conflict between the greatest military power in the world and little Denmark, that is an inevitable outcome.

News themezone: Could an independent Greenland defend itself from security problems and strategic adversaries? Here, China, Russia, like the White House, as President Trump has said?

Zilmer-Johns: Greenland has a population of 60,000 people. It’s a huge landmass, the size of most of Western Europe, so of course I couldn’t do it alone. I would need a stronger partner. It could be Denmark, it could be the United States, but the Greenlanders themselves have said that if and when they become independent, they will remain members of NATO.

News themezone: Immediately after World War II, the United States offered approximately $100 million in gold to purchase Greenland from Denmark at the time. Right now, with inflation, that number is about $12 or $13 billion. What do you think of that figure applied to Greenland in terms of its value?

Zilmer-Johns: I think the whole principle of selling Greenland is out of the question. That’s what could happen in a different era where there were many colonial powers and Greenland was a colony at the time and there were British colonies all over Africa. And we had sold the West Indian Islands to the Americans in 1916. So, at that time, it was not something that was inconceivable. But today, with the status Greenland has, it is simply not on the table. So whatever the amount is, it will never be realistic, nor something anyone in Greenland can imagine.

News themezone: Is the White House being imperial in its ambitions?

Zilmer-Johns: I guess you could say it that way. When you look at the new security strategy, when you look at what President Trump is saying about the Western Hemisphere and the need for control and expansion of the United States, that, in my opinion, sounds a lot like imperialism.

Traditionally, the United States was at the forefront of decolonization and forced Europeans to abandon their colonies, forcing them to do so or pressuring them to do so. I don’t think this approach will continue after President Trump. Even if his MAGA movement or the Republicans still controlled the White House. I think it’s largely Trump’s personal approach, this anachronistic approach to colonialism, plus imperialism.

News themezone: Is there anything else you would like to add to any conversation topic? A message for President Trump, a message for Americans?

Zilmer-Johns: I would like to say that we are willing to cooperate with the United States in all aspects to ensure the legitimate security interests in and around Greenland. And we invite you to do it. Thank you so much.