Macron on Tuesday said the European Union should not bend to "the law of the strongest". (Photo: AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, said that European Union should not bend to “the law of the strongest” and that the bloc “should not hesitate to deploy” tools at its disposal in order to protect its interests as tensions with the US escalates over Greenland.
Macron said that it was staggering the European Union had to contemplate using its “anti-coercion instrument” against the United States. “We do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world, but we do prefer respect to bullies,” the French president said in Switzerland. Macron, who was wearing aviator glasses, denounced the US competition stating it aims to “subordinate Europe”.
Criticising US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 10% tariff on eight European countries over their reluctance to accept an American take over of Greenland, French President Macron said it “doesn’t make sense to have tariffs and be divided and even to threaten now with additional tariffs” among allies. Macron called the idea of deploying EU’s anti-coercion instrument against the US “crazy”.
Macron called the tariff threats by Trump “fundamentally unacceptable” and added that competition from the US for trade agreements that “undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe”. The French president further said that the tariffs are “unacceptable” as they are being “used as leverage against territorial sovereignty”.
‘No going back on Greenland’
Trump on Tuesday said that there’s “no going back” on his goal to control Greenland as he refused to rule out whether US military would be deployed to take the island by force.
The US president posted an edited picture which showed him with other European allies but a map depicting Greenland and Canada as part of the United States.
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Trump also spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Greenland issue and wrote in a Truth Social post, “As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”
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Macron on Tuesday said the European Union should not bend to "the law of the strongest". (Photo: AP) 
