US NATO allies say ‘Greenland belongs to its people’ after Stephen Miller says it should be part of the US.

European leaders issued a joint statement on Tuesday emphasizing the importance of Arctic security, but emphasizing that “Greenland belongs to its people,” hours after White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said it was “the official position of the U.S. government…that Greenland should be part of the United States.”

Miller also said in a CNN interview Monday that “the United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region, protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, it is obvious that Greenland should be part of the United States.”

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark and has been linked to the small European nation for 300 years, although it has its own elected government. The largest island in the world, it is located northeast of Canada and is roughly the size of Sweden. It is largely covered by the Greenland ice sheet and is home to only about 60,000 people.

Its geographical location between the United States, Russia and Europe makes it strategic for both economic and defense purposes, especially since the melting of sea ice has caused considerable damage. opened new sea routes across the Arctic. This is also where the northernmost American military base is located.

“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up their efforts. We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments to ensure Arctic security and deter adversaries,” the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and Greenland said in their joint statement on Tuesday.

“Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in collaboration with NATO allies, including the United States, respecting the principles of the United Nations Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to decide matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said a US military move to take control of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance.

“If the United States chooses to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything will stop,” Frederiksen told local media on Monday. “This includes our NATO, and therefore the security provided since the end of the Second World War.”

When asked Tuesday whether the United States would use military force to take control of GreenlandMiller told CNN: “The United States should have Greenland as an integral part of the United States. It doesn’t even have to be thought or talked about in the context that you’re posing, that of a military operation. No one is going to fight the United States militarily for the future of Greenland.”

Some U.S. lawmakers have opposed the idea of ​​asserting U.S. control over Greenland.

Democratic Rep. Steny H. Hoyer and Republican Rep. Blake Moore, who co-chair the bipartisan Congressional Friends of Denmark group, said in a joint statement that “sabre-rattling over Greenland annexation is needlessly dangerous.”

They said any US attack on Greenland “would tragically be an attack on NATO”.

“We already have access to everything we might need from Greenland,” the two lawmakers said, noting that the Danish government has already given the United States permission to deploy additional military forces there or build more missile defense infrastructure on the island.