Denmark's public broadcaster reports that the US operation to seize Venezuela's leader sparked fears it would act against Greenland.
11 hours ago
Jaroslav Lukiv
Reuters
Danish soldiers flown to Greenland in January were prepared to blow up key airport runways over fears that US President Donald Trump could invade the Arctic island, Denmark's public broadcaster DR says.
Citing sources in the Danish government and military, and also among European allies, DR says blood supplies were also brought in to treat the wounded in the event of fighting.
The Financial Times newspaper said two European officials later confirmed the report. The Danish defence ministry told the BBC it "has no comment".
A senior Danish military official, speaking anonymously, told the BBC "only a limited number of people would have been aware of the operation for security reasons".
Both the US and Denmark are Nato members, and the issue of Greenland - a semi-autonomous part of Denmark - has deeply divided Washington and its European allies.
Trump has repeatedly said he wanted to annex Greenland during his second presidential term. Greenland's leader and Denmark have repeatedly rejected his demands to acquire the island.
DR said it based its report on 12 sources at the top of the Danish government and military, and also sources among Denmark's allies in France and Germany.
They told the broadcaster that Copenhagen asked Paris and Berlin as well as the Nordic nations for political support in dealing with Trump by demonstrating strong European solidarity and holding more joint military activities in Greenland.
The day after, Trump told reporters he would "worry about Greenland in about two months" and repeated that "we need Greenland from a national security situation. It's so strategic", adding without providing evidence: "Right now Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place."
A high-ranking Danish security source told DR that "when Trump keeps saying he wants to take over Greenland, and then what happened in Venezuela happened, we had to take all scenarios seriously."
Meanwhile, a European official told the Financial Times: "After Venezuela, they [Americans] thought they could walk on water. Let's take this thing, and this country."
Soon afterwards, a small military contingent of Danish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish soldiers was flown to the Greenland capital Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq, where there is an airport.
DR said a follow up deployment included elite Danish soldiers and a French contingent trained for warfare in cold, mountainous areas. Danish aircraft and a French naval vessel were sent towards the North Atlantic.
The deployment was presented as part of Danish-led joint military exercises called Operation Arctic Endurance - but the real reason was to prepare for a possible US invasion, DR said.
A decision was taken by Denmark that its soldiers would fight if the US invaded and soldiers were also prepared to blow up runways in Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq to prevent US military aircraft landing there, the broadcaster said.
"The cost to the US would have to be raised. The US would have to carry out a hostile act to get Greenland," a Danish defence source told the broadcaster, while admitting that troops would have been unlikely to be able to repel a US attack.
On 21 January, Trump - who had earlier refused to rule out using force to take over Greenland - said at the World Economic forum in Davos: "I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland."
Trump has since said he is seeking "immediate negotiations" to find a compromise and further defuse the row.
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