Emmanuel Macron on his way to Greenland to say no to American "predation"

A visit heavy with symbolism. French President Emmanuel Macron promises to send a strong signal to Donald Trump by visiting Greenland this Sunday, June 15, the autonomous territory of Denmark coveted by the White House tenant .

"I'm going there to say: 'We're here, and we're ready to reinvest so there's no predation,'" he said a few days before his visit.

"The abyss is not for sale , any more than Greenland is for taking," he had already hammered home on Monday at the UN summit on oceans in Nice .

Emmanuel Macron will be the first foreign head of state to visit the Arctic since the US president's threats of annexation. Donald Trump, citing "international security" reasons, has promised to take possession of this vast Arctic territory "one way or another," without ruling out the use of force.

Greenland is rich in mineral resources, particularly rare metals, and lies on the path of new shipping routes due to global warming, which gives it major strategic importance.

Unlike US Vice President JD Vance, whose visit to the island on March 28 was seen as a provocation , Emmanuel Macron is making this trip "at the invitation" of the Danish and Greenlandic authorities, the French presidency insists.

The French president's trip is "a signal in itself, made at the request of the Danish and Greenlandic authorities," the Elysée noted.

Emmanuel Macron will deliver a message of "European solidarity and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Greenland, the Élysée Palace continued.

He will also address "Arctic security issues," as well as the alarming melting of glaciers and the "linking" of this territory to "European action" in order to contribute to its development, while "respecting its sovereignty."

In response to US ambitions, Denmark has announced that it will devote two billion euros to strengthening security in the Arctic, a strategic area due to its proximity to Russia and the United States, and the North Atlantic.

The head of state, who will stop there on his way to the G7 summit in Canada, will make three stops around the capital, Nuuk. Greenland, the world's largest island, is 80% covered in ice.

At each stage, he will be accompanied by Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen.

It will first fly over a glacier, as the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world and melting ice could, at the current rate, cause sea levels to rise by 1.8 metres.

The head of state will then travel to an EU-funded hydroelectric station and then aboard a Danish helicopter-carrying frigate for a political meeting with the two prime ministers.

Unlike Denmark, Greenland is not part of the European Union but is included on the list of overseas territories associated with the Union.

"This will be an opportunity to discuss the best possible architecture, the best possible location, or the best possible cooperation plan between the European Union and Greenland," the Élysée Palace said.

JD Vance had accused Denmark of having "not done a good job for the people of Greenland," including not investing enough in the local economy and "not ensuring its security." Denmark, for its part, insists that Greenland "is not for sale."

While Greenland's main parties support independence for the territory in the short or long term, none supports the idea of ​​joining the United States. The majority Inuit population of 57,000, including more than 19,000 in the capital Nuuk, also rejects any prospect of becoming American, according to a poll published at the end of January .

After his visit to Greenland, Emmanuel Macron will fly to the G7, a summit against a backdrop of high geopolitical tensions as the military escalation between Israel and Iran appears to be out of control .

The meeting of the world's largest economic powers, from Sunday to Tuesday, is also the first to be held since US President Donald Trump returned to power.

The Republican billionaire's last appearance at a G7 summit in Canada, in June 2018, was explosive, to say the least. Just before the meeting, he called for Russia, which had been excluded after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, to be reinstated. He then angrily withdrew his signature from the leaders' final communiqué, angered by remarks made by then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.