A military takeover of Greenland by the United States would cause "very serious difficulties" for the Nato military alliance, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told Yle in an interview on Friday.
"That would be a catastrophic situation, because a Nato country would be intervening militarily in the territory of another Nato country," Orpo told Yle, adding that he believes the recent US rhetoric on Greenland is more likely to be a "negotiation tactic".
His comments come after the White House announced earlier this week that US President Donald Trump’s administration is actively considering ways to take control of Greenland — with a military takeover one of the possibilities.
"Nato is valuable to the United States, and the entire Western alliance, which includes the US’s key allies and trading partners. I don’t believe the United States would go that far," Orpo said, but noted that President Trump's mixed messages on the issue have been "confusing".
Finland’s political leadership has avoided directly condemning the US’s threats over Greenland in recent days, with Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) describing the situation as "worrying", but Orpo argued the Finnish position is clear.
"From the beginning, we have stated that only Greenlanders and Danes will decide Greenland’s future. We have strongly supported this," he said, but did not directly answer the question about whether Finland's leaders are deliberately avoiding angering the unpredictable US President.
An op-ed in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper noted on Friday morning that Trump's behaviour poses a dilemma for countries such as Finland, who rely on the US for security. In addition, the US's growing interest in the Arctic region has provided a much-needed boost for Finland's flagging economy — with an icebreaker deal between the two countries estimated to be worth about 5 billion dollars.
"I believe Finns can see quite clearly that our security and defence depend very much on the United States," Orpo said. "Nevertheless, we defend the multilateral world order, the role of UN organisations, and international law. These are the basic principles that a small country like Finland needs."
Earlier this week, Trump said he wants to pull the US out of 66 global bodies — including 31 agencies operating under the United Nations and a further 35 international organisations.
"This is the kind of policy the US has pursued during Trump’s terms, a very critical attitude toward the multinational world order," Orpo noted.
