US REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK ON TALK OF MILITARY ACTION OVER GREENLAND

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Bernama-dpa) -- Several United States (US) congressional Republicans have voiced criticism of any potential military action to annexe Greenland, distancing themselves from President Donald Trump's assertions that the US needs the Arctic island for national security, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Utah Senator John Curtis, writing on X on Wednesday,  that while strengthening partnerships with Denmark and Greenland was important, the use of military force was "not appropriate, not necessary, and not something I will support."

Greenland, an autonomous territory with about 56,000 residents, formally belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally.

Republican lawmaker Don Bacon of Nebraska said the administration's talk of Greenland was damaging and risked alienating NATO partners. He told CNN the idea of absorbing Greenland was among the "silliest" things he had heard from the White House in the past year, and urged other Republicans to tell the administration it was on the wrong path.

Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, speaking after a briefing by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said even a "modestly intelligent ninth-grader" would know that invading Greenland would be "weapons grade stupid." 

He said neither Trump nor Rubio were foolish and that no invasion was being planned, though he did not rule out efforts to seek a new legal framework for US and Greenland defence cooperation.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a US attack on Greenland would spell the end of NATO and the post-World War II security order.

Trump has long said the United States "needs" Greenland for its national security. 

Denmark, Greenland's government, the European Union, and several European countries have rejected Trump's claims. The debate resurfaced after a recent US military operation in Venezuela.

-- BERNAMA-dpa