Trump's Greenland plans Alain Berset warns urgently against a new Cold War
These are clear words from Alain Berset: in the New York Times, the former Federal Councillor and current Secretary General of the Council of Europe warns urgently against Donald Trump's plans to annex Greenland.
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- As Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset warns against Donald Trump's Greenland threats and sees them as a serious danger to the international post-war order.
- With his fantasies of annexation, Donald Trump is calling international law into question and, according to Berset, is guided less by international rules than by his own political morals.
- The former Federal Councillor emphasizes that legitimate US security interests can be safeguarded without annexation - and warns Europe against giving in on sovereignty, law and multilateralism.
Former Federal Councillor and current Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset takes a clear stance on Donald Trump's Greenland policy. In a guest article in the "New York Times", Berset warns urgently of the dangers of the US President's annexation plans.
When he took office as Secretary General of the Council of Europe over a year ago, he had not even remotely considered that the USA could use military force against a member state: "And yet, it has now happened," writes Berset.
Trump's repeated threats would call into question the cornerstones of the post-war order. The fact that the US president only sees himself restricted by his "own morals", but not by international law, would push aside the legal order created after the Second World War.
Escalation possible
"For now, it remains just words. However, the latest events in Venezuela show how quickly words can be turned into deeds," says Berset, expressing his concern. On both sides of the Atlantic, we need to ask ourselves "whether we want to live in a world in which democracy is reinterpreted as weakness, truth as opinion and justice as an option".
In his contribution, Berset acknowledges the justified national security interests of the USA in Greenland. However, he also emphatically points out that the USA already maintains a military base in Greenland and could significantly expand military cooperation on the basis of existing agreements: without jeopardizing Greenland's sovereignty or annexing the island.
Berset is clear
"This suggests that something else is at play," Berset continued, noting the return of an old strategic reflex, "a Cold War mindset in which geography is seen as destiny and influence as a zero-sum game, and independence is seen as a strategic risk rather than a democratic choice."
Europe must therefore stand up resolutely and united for justice, multilateralism and self-determination. "It is not just Greenland's sovereignty that is at stake, but trust," warns the former Federal Councillor.
Berset emphasizes that alliances are based on predictability "and the expectation that power, especially the power of allies, remains bound by law". International law is either universal or meaningless: "Greenland will show what we choose."
