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Prague – Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) said today, when asked whether he can clearly say on behalf of the Czech government that the Czech Republic stands behind Greenland, that he cannot. Within the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), the leader is the United States and clashes are counterproductive, he added. Because of the latest developments around Greenland and in connection with the threats of US President Donald Trump, the European Council will meet on Thursday, where Babiš will represent the Czech Republic.
“We definitely prefer that an agreement be reached within the alliance. It would be very unfortunate if there were simply some clashes,” Babiš said. He stated that he bought a big beautiful globe for 15,000 crowns because of the dispute so that he could see exactly where Greenland is located. “That Orešnik would fly from Russia to the White House in 26 minutes and the 11th minute is precisely over Greenland, so President Trump’s arguments about China and Russia are relevant, but it is simply necessary to come to an agreement. Some appeals or declarations are pointless,” he said, referring to the Russian supersonic ballistic missile.
The new chairman of ODS, Martin Kupka, called on the government at a press conference to clearly side with the European states and the allies of the Czech Republic regarding Greenland. According to him, the Czech Republic should play a clear and comprehensible role and stand behind Greenland and Denmark.
On Saturday, Trump announced that from February 1 he is increasing import tariffs for eight European states and that these tariffs will remain in place until the United States concludes an agreement to buy Greenland from Denmark. The additional ten percent tariffs are to apply to all goods imported into the USA from countries that opposed Trump’s wish to acquire this Arctic island – that is, from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Finland. In a joint statement on Sunday, these countries warned that the threat of introducing tariffs by the United States is disrupting transatlantic relations and could cause a dangerous spiral of escalation.
According to Babiš, Trump is a businessman. “We experienced a situation where he wanted to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent, then he backed down, then he made a deal with Canada and Mexico,” the prime minister said. “He is probably using the same tactic, when he puts some proposal out there, which he then takes as a kickoff for negotiations,” he believes. According to Babiš, the Czech government is in favor of finding a way to negotiate with him and resolve the matter. (January 19)