UK FM Lammy refuses to condemn Trump comments on Greenland

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday refused to condemn president-elect Donald Trump's Greenland ambitions while insisting that the US acquiring the self-governing Danish territory is "not going to happen".

"I'm not in the business of condemning our closest ally," Lammy told Sky News, adding that he was "in the business of interpreting what sits behind this and there are some very serious national economic security issues".

The comments contrast with the response of some European leaders on Wednesday to Trump refusing to rule out using economic or military force to acquire Greenland.

Germany's Olaf Scholz said the stance had sparked "notable incomprehension" and "uneasiness" among EU leaders, and later noted on social media that "borders must not be moved by force".

London, which prizes its so-called special relationship with Washington, is eager not to damage relations with Trump and his team under the UK's new Labour government.

It follows a number of Labour ministers previously making disparaging comments about the president-elect, including Lammy, who once described him as a "tyrant" and "xenophobic".

Trump has designs on the mineral- and oil-rich Arctic island, an autonomous territory of European Union member Denmark that itself has eyes on independence.

He set alarm bells ringing on Tuesday at a news conference when he said the US needs Greenland "for national security purposes".

In a round of interviews on Thursday, Britain's top diplomat branded the incoming US president's remarks "classic Donald Trump" and said they were centred around "Americans' national economic security".

"In the end, that is up to the people of Greenland and their own self-determination, and there is a discussion within Greenland about those very same issues," he told Sky News.

Asked by BBC radio how Britain would respond if Trump acted on his claim that the US might try to acquire Greenland by economic or military force, Lammy insisted that "it's not going to happen", noting that "no NATO allies have gone to war, since the birth of NATO".

But he was also careful not to criticize Trump, noting that while his "rhetoric" and "unpredictability" can be "destabilising", the outcomes of that can be beneficial to Western allies.

He cited Trump's insistence on increased defence spending by NATO members as an example.

Lammy added that Trump was addressing valid "concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic" as well as "national economic security" in his Greenland comments.

"He recognises, I'm sure, that in the end, Greenland today is a (part of the) Kingdom of Denmark. There is a debate in Greenland about their own self-determination."

Lammy also noted that the US has troops and a military base on Greenland.

"So it has got a stake in that Arctic theatre," he added.

© Agence France-Presse