Discussing tariffs over Greenland encourages and inspires our adversaries - Rinkevics

RIGA - The imposition of tariffs and discussing them encourages and inspires our adversaries, President Edgars Rinkevics said in a post on Facebook, expressing his opinion on the discussion on Greenland started by the United States.

He notes that the issue of Arctic security is being addressed both within NATO and in bilateral dialogue between Denmark and the US, as well as with other Arctic countries, in accordance with international law.

The Latvian president underlines that Denmark is a reliable NATO ally, and there should be no doubt about Denmark's ability to stand up and defend Greenland together with NATO allies against potential Russian and Chinese threats, should they arise in the future.

I have said before that Denmark is a strong democracy, a member of the European Union (EU), a reliable NATO ally. Greenland is an integral part of Denmark, Rinkevics said.

Understanding the security interests of the US, the president of Latvia hopes that the two Latvian allies - the US and Denmark - will find a mutually acceptable solution. He also mentioned that Latvia supports the continuation of direct dialogue.

Rinkevics emphasized that Latvia supports the statement on Greenland issued last Sunday by Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden.

Setting tariffs and discussing them does not benefit anyone in the Euro-Atlantic area, but encourages and inspires our adversaries, the president stressed.

He assures that Latvia will continue to work with all allies, both within and outside the EU, to find a reasonable solution.

As reported, in response to US President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on several EU countries opposed to Washington's plans to take control of Greenland, the EU is considering counter-tariffs on EUR 93 billion worth of imports from the US or restricting access to the EU market for US companies, the Financial Times reported, citing sources in the EU.

Officials have said that these tariffs on imports from the US were already in the pipeline last year when Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on imports from the EU, but were not implemented because a trade deal was reached. The possibility of using the so-called anti-coercion instrument, which could restrict US companies' access to the EU internal market, is also being discussed.