Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that his stance on Greenland will cause “serious harm” to Britain after doubling down on his “solidarity” against Donald Trump.Speaking to GB News, Professor Anthony Glees cautioned the Prime Minister following the declaration and said the “gravity of this moment can hardly be exaggerated”.Following the announcement by Mr Trump to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on the UK and EU countries, a joint statement has been issued.The leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK said: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland.
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“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.”As members of Nato, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’ conducted with allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.”Discussing the situation, Professor Glees told GB News: “I actually think the gravity of this moment can hardly be exaggerated. There’s two issues of principle at stake here, principles that really go straight to the core of what being a European Nato member is about. The first principle is that we respect national sovereignty. “Now, opinions differ about Brexit 10 years on, but I think everybody can agree that the key principle of Brexit was a respect for sovereignty. And that is what I think everybody believes in this country apart apparently from Reform. So you’ve got the Conservatives, Priti Patel, Kemi Badenoch at one with Sir Keir Starmer on this issue that sovereignty has to be respected.”Highlighting that the decision could prove “perilous” for Greenland and Canada, he explained: “If the people of Greenland would one day want to join the United States, well, that would be their decision. But it would be highly perilous, not least for Canada. If you look at the map, Canada would be sandwiched between two bits of the United States of America. And can anybody doubt that Canada would be next on Donald Trump’s acquisition of real estate list? So you’ve got the principle of sovereignty. “Then you’ve got the principle of blackmail. No sovereign nation can give in to blackmail, that is absolutely key. It is a lesson we learnt from the wars of the last century and Germany twice tried to blackmail other countries into accepting their control of their nations and we stood alone. As everybody knows, in 1940 we didn’t give in to the blackmail and we came out on top again. “Every school kid knows if you’re bullied you have to resist the bully. If you try and grease up to the bully on one occasion, you may get away on that occasion, but the bully will come back for more. So this is really serious because the bully in question is our strongest and most staunch ally, the United States of America. So I think these two principles are really key.”Criticising Mr Trump’s understanding of Nato on the world stage, Professor Glees told GB News: “And they also demonstrate that President Trump does not actually appear to understand what Nato is, because he says Denmark cannot safeguard Greenland. And of course, in a sense, he is right. Denmark cannot keep Greenland safe from China and Russia when the frozen north seems to be even less frozen than it is now due to global warming, which Donald Trump says doesn’t exist. LATEST DEVELOPMENTSDonald Trump predicted to ‘back down’ on tariff threat after ‘shooting from the hip’ over GreenlandDonald Trump seeking control of ‘entirely new’ advantage in Greenland in global ‘inflexion point’European nations issue joint statement on Trump’s Greenland tariffs as leaders mull counter-measures”But that’s why we have Nato. The point of Nato is that the defence of the entire continent of Europe is much stronger if everybody is in the same treaty organisation. So Trump is taunting us, saying we can’t do what Nato is meant to do, at the same time he’s undermining Nato.”Warning that the bid for Greenland could prove costly for Nato, he said: “And now that is the most serious thing of all, because there are only two people in this world who will be delighted if Nato ceases to exist. And it will cease to exist if one NATO member finds itself in conflict with another. The United States of America is the key partner here.”That’s Russia and that’s China, that’s Putin, that’s XI, it will be madness. It would be madness to do this. So Trump, I think, must be convinced that the course he is on is wrong. It’s wrong for us, it’s wrong for Canada. We share the same monarch as Canada. It’s definitely wrong for Greenland. That’s what they’re saying at the moment. “There is a threat, but it’s a long way off. And if there are rare of minerals or not, they belong to Denmark and Greenland, end of story. However, it won’t be the end. And I think the tariffs on Britain and the other nations, they will do us serious harm.”As host Nana Akua argued that Greenland would be “safer” in the hands of Donald Trump and not China or Russia, Professor Glees hit back: “What do Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and President Xi have in common? It’s a propensity to grab land that belongs to other people, a propensity to ignore the sovereignty of nations they don’t like.”Now many of us feel getting rid of President Maduro was not a bad thing, but look what has happened after that intervention. Maduro’s party are still running Venezuela. The opposition leader, all she can do is give a peace medal to Trump and try to placate him in that way. “So yes, you could say if the Greenlanders won $1,000,000 from Trump, if Denmark wants $1,000,000 from Trump, that’s their business, although it’s still a great danger to Canada, I have to say. But it cannot be done under duress. That is not how nations should behave towards each other. “There was no need for Donald Trump to fire from the hip, which is what what he was doing on this. A negotiation was possible, but it wasn’t necessary because Nato, Greenland, Nato can do it, of which America is a partner.”
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