'The only way to deal with Donald Trump is to stand up to him,' Irish MEP says
James Cox
The only way to "deal with Donald Trump is to stand up to him" over his Greenland tariff threats, an Irish MEP has said.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews was recently appointed ‘rapporteur’ for the EU Parliament’s position on EU-Greenland relations.
In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, he said: "There is a realisation on the European side that a red line has been crossed in terms of what Trump has said he's going to do.
"It had a strangely positive impact on the EU member states in bringing them together in a way that happened with Ukraine. It's a really deep solidarity with the people of Greenland and Denmark.
"We need to make sure we exhaust every possible diplomatic pathway before any escalation is considered. There are ways to do that at EU level and individual member state level, including Ireland."
He said the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument, or 'bazooka', should be considered "in parallel" with the planned retaliatory tariffs worth €93 billion ($108 billion).
"This is an escalation if the threatened tariffs actually go ahead, so it's contingent on that actually happening and diplomatic efforts failing.
"If we do get to that point those tariffs have already been identified, €93 billion worth, they should be proceeded with in parallel with an investigation into the anti-coercion instrument. It puts all those levers on the table for the EU and I think it's clear that the only way to deal with Donald Trump is to stand up to him."
As if it had been written by a child.
Mr Andrews said Mr Trump's letter to Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store, in which he said he would not only think of peace having failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was like it had been "written by a child".
"It's really extraordinary what's happening. I could never have believed a letter would come out of the White House like the one to the Norwegian prime minister, as if it had been written by a child, and as if he had not been told many times that the Norwegian government does not award the Nobel Peace Prize.
"You're dealing with a complete detachment from strategic foresight in terms of US foreign policy, completely narcissitic and transactional and inconsistent."
He added: "I think the European Union can only strengthen its hand and close off various pathways that Donald Trump thinks are open to him.
"This includes unilateral military action in Greenland or any attempts to undermine the territorial integrity of Greenland and Denmark. That has to be made very clear to him whether through diplomatic channels or through subsequent economic or trade escalation."
Mr Andrews said Mr Trump's justifications for the US needing Greenland for security were also flawed, as they have weakend their own military presence in the Arctic.
"When you look at the US presence in the Arctic in detail, they have completely degraded their own military presence, not just in Greenland but in the polar regions generally. For example there are eight nuclear powered ice-breakers in the Russian fleet, there are no nuclear powered ice-breakers in the American fleet.
"They have three ice-breakers, one is in the Antarctic and one is an ancient boat that's used in the Arctic.
"They have neglected their presence in the Arctic. Tbe Arctic is not even mentioned in their National Security Strategy published in November.
"The idea that the US would imperil the future of Nato, transatlantic trade relations, and the international order to pursue something that is clearly not in their National Security Strategy helps you to realise how crazy this situation is."
Mr Andrews said the recently agreed EU-US trade deal was already "imperfect" and should be changed amid Mr Trump's threats of 25 per cent tariffs on certain EU states, along with Britain and Norway.
"The trade deal was already imperfect. It accepted 15 per cent tariffs on EU goods going into the US, and zero tariffs on US goods coming into the EU, which was a major concession by the EU in order to achieve transatlantic trade and continue the good relations crucial to the EU and US economies.
"However, that concession now is clearly no longer appropriate and should be withdrawn until such time as the Greenland situation and tariff threats are resolved."
He reiterated the unity of the 27 EU member states in response to Mr Trump's threats to Greenland.
"It has pulled the European Union together in a single united position, left and right, east and west of the EU regardless of which of the 27 member states, we're all on the same page and we have gotten to a point where we can't accept the situation coming from the US anymore.
"On Gaza we were on our own [Ireland] for a long period with one or two member states aligned with our position, that made it extremely difficult for the Irish government to take the steps it did in supporting UNRWA, recognising the state of Palestine, looking for the suspension of the trade agreement with Israel.
"On this, all 27 member states are acting in a unified way so yes there are massive consequences for the Irish economy if this goes badly, but I think the nature of the current White House is Trump will back down if he sees there are serious consequences. US business, the US public and US Congress are crucial in this, and Ireland has good contacts with all those groupings so we just have to stand up to him."
China U-turn
Mr Andrews pointed to Mr Trump backing down on tariff threats to China as an example of how the EU can pull him back from the threats over Greenland.
"We saw with China when they threatened the supply of critical raw materials to the US that he backed down on Chinese tariffs as well. Tbis is the only way it seems to work with the US, it's unfortunate that this is the case, but that's what our stance needs to be.
"We have to make sure the crazy approach of Donald Trump is not tolerated and I think a lot of Americans feel the same way. Recent polling showed just 4 per cent of Americans agreed with the idea of unilateral military action to annex Greenland."
