Macron Warns: Intimidation Won’t Sway Europe Amid Trump Greenland Row

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that “no amount of intimidation” will alter Europe’s position on Greenland, after Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on countries opposing his push to take control of the territory.

Macron Warns

The US president announced on Saturday that he would impose 10 percent tariffs on exports from eight European countries starting 1 February, rising to 25 percent from 1 June, unless a deal is reached for what he described as the “complete and total purchase of Greenland”.

Macron’s response was echoed across northern Europe. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the European Union would not be “blackmailed”, while Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre warned that “threats have no place among allies”.

In a joint statement, EU leaders said the proposed tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk triggering a “dangerous downward spiral”. EU ambassadors are expected to convene an emergency meeting on Sunday.

Until now, European capitals had been reluctant to escalate the dispute, but Trump’s latest intervention appears to have hardened positions. Members of the European Parliament have begun discussing a pause in ratifying a long negotiated EU US trade deal, with senior lawmakers warning that approval could be delayed.

Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, the largest bloc in the parliament, said the legal ratification process may have to be suspended in light of the threats.

The tariffs target Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland, the countries that have been most outspoken in rejecting Trump’s ambitions for Greenland. European leaders were caught off guard by the announcement while in Paraguay signing a major trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of South American nations.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said the tariffs would remain in place “until such time as a deal is reached” for Greenland.

Macron called the move unacceptable, stressing that Denmark is an EU and Nato member and that Greenland’s status is protected under international law. “France is committed to the sovereignty and independence of nations, in Europe and elsewhere,” he said. “This principle guides our actions, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else.”

He added that France would stand by Denmark’s decision to involve European partners in security exercises in Greenland, citing the importance of Arctic security for Europe as a whole.

Kristersson reinforced that message, saying decisions about Greenland could only be made by Denmark and Greenland themselves. “I will always stand up for my country and for our allied neighbours,” he said.

EU Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe remained united and committed to dialogue, but warned that tariffs would damage relations and weaken cooperation on shared security interests in the Arctic.

Denmark sought to cool tensions, with Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen referring to what he described as constructive talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week. He said allies recognised the need to strengthen Arctic security and that Nato partners were acting transparently with Washington.

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Some analysts see the tariff threat as a negotiating tactic rather than a serious economic strategy. Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said the measures appeared to mirror the countries that had committed forces to Greenland. “We are not going to see American troops on the ground there,” he said, describing the move as leverage rather than a concrete plan.

The EU US trade deal, agreed last August but not yet ratified, now hangs in the balance. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said it was difficult to imagine business continuing as usual under the circumstances. Socialists and Democrats, the parliament’s second largest group, also warned there could be no trade deal while tariff threats remained.

Beyond the immediate economic impact, European officials say the rationale behind Trump’s threats is what troubles them most. The idea of coercing allies over territory has raised alarm in capitals already wary of global instability.

As Trump prepares to meet allied leaders at the World Economic Forum later this week, European governments are hoping the dispute can be defused. For now, however, his latest tariff salvo has cast a shadow over transatlantic relations and intensified debate over how Europe should respond.