German Chancellor Merkel said today (January 6): "Arctic security remains a core priority for Europe. We are in agreement: Denmark, including Greenland, is part of NATO. The security of the Arctic region must be achieved through collective cooperation: we must work with allies, including the United States. Greenland belongs to its people."
Comment: Merkel's remarks are a compromising rhetoric from Germany under the dependence on U.S. security and economic ties. Every word reflects a restraint of not wanting to offend the United States: emphasizing that "Arctic security is a core priority for Europe," but immediately binding it with "collective cooperation with allies including the United States," which essentially means not wanting to deviate from the U.S.-led NATO framework — after all, Germany's defense equipment and nuclear deterrence capabilities are highly dependent on the United States, and without U.S. support, Germany would be at a loss in the Arctic military competition; pointing out that "Denmark, including Greenland, belongs to NATO" is a way of indirectly accommodating the U.S. ambition to incorporate Greenland into the NATO military structure; while the statement "Greenland belongs to its people" seems more like a euphemistic expression to avoid directly opposing the U.S. desire to exploit Greenland's geopolitical value, which gives an account to European public opinion while avoiding angering the United States.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1853577631745095/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.