Dithering EU leaders start squabbling among themselves as Trump unleashes chaos: European officials left floundering by Maduro capture and growing threat of Greenland invasion | Retrui News | Retrui
Dithering EU leaders start squabbling among themselves as Trump unleashes chaos: European officials left floundering by Maduro capture and growing threat of Greenland invasion
SOURCE:Daily Mail
Blind-sided European leaders have been left floundering by Donald Trump following his capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the re-emerging threat of an invasion of Greenland.
Dithering European leaders have been left floundering and squabbling with each other after Donald Trump ordered the US military to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and renewed his threat of an invading Greenland.
Trump has sparked chaos and confusion among frantic officials in Britain and the EU by both seizing the dictator and threatening to use military power to seize Greenland.
Leaders have given conflicting responses to Venezuela ranging from condemnation from Spain to lukewarm praise from the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
And today, there was further confusion over a supposed plan of action on Greenland with Spanish officials admitting they have no idea what France and Germany are due to announce.
The continent's initial response to the invasion of Venezuela was tepid, at best. Neither condemning nor condoning what Trump had done, the EU's High Representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, instead called for 'calm and restraint by all actors'.
With the backing of 26 out of 27 member states - Hungary refused to sign the statement - she also sought to remind the US that as a member of the UN's Security Council it has a 'particular responsibility' to uphold the rule of law.
France's Emmanuel Macron said he would shed no tears for Maduro, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that while the Venezuelan leader's legitimacy was doubtful, a 'legal assessment' of the US' actions would be 'complex and requires careful consideration'.
Italy's Giorgia Meloni was more forceful in her praise of Trump's actions, claiming the attack was an act of 'legitimate' self-defence.
Only a small number of European countries decided to condemn what Trump had done. Spain's left-wing prime minister Pedro Sánchez led the charge against Trump, saying in a statement that his government would not recognise any interventions in Venezuela that violated international law.
French President Emmanuel Macron greets leaders at the Elysee Palace on January 6, 2026 in Paris, France
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers a speech upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine during the 'Coalition of the Willing' summit on security guarantees for Ukraine, at the Elysee Palace in Paris Tuesday, Jan 6, 2025
He said: 'Spain did not recognise the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognise an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence.'
The few others in the EU who joined him in his condemnation included Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico, who scathingly said the US' incursion was 'further evidence of the breakdown of the world order', and Hungary's Viktor Orban, who said: 'The liberal world order is in disintegration.'
Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, said of the incursion: 'We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president and we shed no tears about the end of his regime'.
He also raised the importance of adhering to international law.
The European reaction to Greenland was slightly more decisive. Following days of tension, world leaders, including including Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, vowed to defend Greenland's 'territorial integrity'.
They called America an 'essential partner' and reiterated that the US and Denmark signed a defence agreement in 1951.
'Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,' they said.
The statement added that the allies will continue to defend Greenland's 'territorial integrity' and the 'inviolability of borders'.
US Army Green Berets are seen during Arctic Edge 24 in Greenland. The territory is known for its untapped mineral wealth and NATO alliance
An explosion rocks Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning during a US military operation which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
And today, EU allies including France and Germany said they have been working on a plan on how to respond to the US should it act on its threats.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the subject would be raised at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland later in the day.
'We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners,' he said on France Inter radio.
A German government source said separately that Germany was 'closely working together with other European countries and Denmark on the next steps regarding Greenland'.
A senior European official said Denmark must lead the effort to coordinate a response, but 'the Danes have yet to communicate to their European allies what kind of concrete support they wish to receive,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But the plans appear to be in their infancy, with Spain's foreign minister José Manuel Albares Bueno stating that his nation was not aware of an EU-led Greenland plan.
Making matters worse was the scant progress made on EU security guarantees in Ukraine.
After nearly four years of Russia's invasion, Ukraine's European allies could do little more than celebrate the progress of a framework for security guarantees, instead of anything concrete.
Asked on Wednesday whether Western allies had agreed to come to Ukraine's defence if Russia attacked again after any peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: 'So far, I have not received a clear, unambiguous answer' to that question.
Leaders said they would continue supplying equipment and training to Ukraine's front-line forces and back them up with air, land and sea military support aimed at deterring renewed Russian aggression.
The size, structure and financing of any supporting forces were not made public, and many elements remain to be negotiated.
Zelensky said progress was made in the talks but stressed that commitments must still be ratified by individual countries before they can be implemented.
'We determined what countries are ready to take leadership in the elements of security guarantees on the ground, in the air, and at sea, and in restoration,' Zelenskyy said. 'We determined what forces are needed. We determined how these forces will be operated and at what levels of command.'
He said details of how monitoring would work remain to be determined, as do the size and financing of Ukraine's army.
Ben Wallace, the former Tory defence secretary, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'To attack another NATO member, which Denmark is, and a loyal member who supported them in 9/11 and sent troops to Afghanistan, would very much signal the demise of a large part of NATO.'
Pressed on whether the UK Government ought to go further in sticking up for Denmark and Greenland, Sir Ben said: 'I think they have to be much more robust. I think we have to be strong.
'You know, President Trump, like President Putin, thinks that Europeans are weak and doesn't respect sort of mealy-mouthed type statements.'
The Telegraph reported this morning that the White House had dismissed Britain as 'weak' for its lukewarm response to the invasion of Venezuela.
A senior White House official told the newspaper that Starmer should have celebrated the capture of Maduro instead of questioning its legality.
The source told the paper: 'It's not a surprise - They are just weak.'
Since Greenland is a member of the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, given its position as a territory of EU member Denmark, the bloc has a material interest in defending it.
Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad as they make their way to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026
But it may not have long to prepare for a possible American annexation.
Trump hinted on Sunday that a decision on Greenland may come 'in about two months,' once the situation in Venezuela has stabilised.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday: 'President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.
'The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief's disposal.'
And overnight, the White House stoked fears of a NATO implosion, explicitly saying that taking the strategic Danish territory by force is very much on the table.
A statement said 'utilising the US military is always an option' and warned Mr Trump's determination to control Greenland is 'not going away'.
Greenland's position above the Arctic Circle makes it a prime piece of real estate in the geopolitical map of the world.
Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security.
He faces charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering and more
The island, 80 per cent of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.
Its location off the northeastern coast of Canada made it crucial to the defense of North America during World War II, when the US occupied Greenland.
Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation.
But the Arctic ice is thinning, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region's mineral resources.
In 2018, China declared itself a 'near-Arctic state' in an effort to gain more influence in the region.
China has also announced plans to build a 'Polar Silk Road' as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.
Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China's move, saying: 'Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarisation and competing territorial claims?'
Meanwhile, Russia has sought to assert its influence over wide areas of the Arctic in competition with the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway.
Moscow has also sought to boost its military presence in the polar region, home to its Northern Fleet and a site where the Soviet Union tested nuclear weapons. Russian military officials have said that the site is ready for resuming the tests, if necessary.
Greenland has had the legal right to declare independence from Denmark since 2009 but has not done so, largely because it relies on Danish financial support and public services
Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, at the Elysee Summit of the Coalition of Volunteers in Paris on Tuesday
The Russian military in recent years has been restoring old Soviet infrastructure in the Arctic and building new facilities. Since 2014, the Russian military has opened several military bases in the Arctic and worked on reconstructing airfields.
European leaders' concerns were heightened following Russia´s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that Russia is worried about NATO's activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening the capability of its armed forces there.
'Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but we will closely follow the developments and mount an appropriate response by increasing our military capability and modernising military infrastructure,' Putin said in March at a policy forum in the Arctic port of Murmansk.
He added, however, that Moscow was holding the door open to broader international cooperation in the region.
The US Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951.
It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the US and NATO.
Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.
Denmark is strengthening its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic.
The government last year announced a roughly $2.3billion deal with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing Danish territory, to 'improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty'.
The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.
Denmark's Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the 'surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,' according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.
Trump visited the territory last January, prior to the start of his second term
US Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland last March, specifically the US military's Pituffik Space Base
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.
Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other hi-tech gadgets that are expected to power the world's economy in the coming decades.
That has attracted the interest of the US and other Western powers as they try to ease China's dominance of the market for these critical minerals.
Development of Greenland's mineral resources is challenging because of the island's harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional hurdle for potential investors.