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A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 23 august 2019

Danish ex-PM attacks Trump for comments on defense spending

By JAN M. OLSEN land more accessible to
Associated Press potential oil and mineral
COPENHAGEN, Denmark resources. Russia, China,
(AP) — A former Danish the U.S., Canada and oth-
prime minister on Thursday er countries are racing to
lashed out at U.S. President stake as strong a claim as
Donald Trump for his tweet they can to Arctic lands,
about military spending, hoping they will yield future
saying defense willingness riches.
is not just about the amount Frederiksen has said that
of money spent. Denmark doesn’t own
Lars Loekke Rasmussen’s Greenland, which belongs
comment is the latest in an to its people. It is part of the
escalating spat between Danish realm along with
the U.S. and Denmark af- the Faeroe Islands, another
ter Trump scrapped a visit semi-autonomous territory,
to the country, saying cur- and has its own govern-
rent Prime Minister Mette ment and parliament, the
Frederiksen was “nasty” 31-seat Inatsisartut.
when she rejected his idea The sparsely populated is-
of buying Greenland as an land, which is four times
absurdity. zones behind Copenha-
Loekke Rasmussen, who Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen makes a comment about US President’s cancellation gen, became a Danish col-
led the country until June, of his scheduled State Visit, in front of the State Department in Copenhagen, Wednesday, Aug. ony in 1775 and remained
tweeted Thursday to Trump: 21, 2019. that way until 1953, when
“We have had (propor- Associated Press Denmark revised its consti-
tionally) exactly the same 1.35%.” “We will not accept lion kroner ($223 million) to sion.” tution and made the island
numbers of casualties in Af- that our defense willing- the already agreed-upon Trump said her comment a province.
ghanistan as US. We always ness is only about percent- defense budget for 2023, “was nasty. I thought it was In 1979, Greenland and its
stands firm and ready.” ages,” Loekke Rasmussen which would put defense an inappropriate state- 56,000 residents, who are
Trump, who has urged tweeted. “I told you at the spending at 1.5 percent of ment. All she had to say mainly indigenous Inuits,
NATO members to do more NATO Summit in Brussels last gross domestic product for was say, ‘No, we wouldn’t got extensive home rule
to meet the alliance’s goal year.” In January, Denmark that year. The U.S. spends be interested.’” but Denmark still handles its
of committing 2 percent of agreed to increase its long- about 3.4% of its GDP on Frederiksen said the U.S. foreign and defense poli-
gross domestic product to term defense spending defense. remains one of Denmark’s cies, as well as currency is-
defense, earlier tweeted after a coalition in Parlia- Trump abruptly canceled close allies. sues. Denmark pays annual
that “Denmark is only at ment agreed to add 1.5 bil- his planned Sept. 2-3 visit to The political brouhaha over subsidies of 4.5 billion kroner
Denmark on Tuesday, af- the world’s largest island ($670 million) to Greenland
ter Frederiksen had called comes from its strategic lo- whose economy otherwise
Trump’s idea to buy Green- cation in the Arctic. Global depends on fisheries and
land “an absurd discus- warming is making Green- related industries.q

Angela Merkel calls for EU-wide

climate neutrality by 2050

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
(AP) — German Chancellor
Angela Merkel called Thurs-
day for the European Union
to support ambitious tar-
gets for the entire 28-nation
bloc to become climate
neutral.
Merkel made her appeal
after she and members of
her “climate Cabinet” met
their Dutch counterparts
at the official residence of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, right, poses with German
Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the entrance to his official
share experiences on how residence in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday Aug. 22, 2019.
best to shift their econo- Associated Press
mies to sustainable energy it has to further ramp up its tral by 2050. While she ac-
sources. The working lunch ambition by next year as knowledged the challenge
came as Germany is set to part of its commitment un- of winning support from all
miss its own emissions goals der the 2015 Paris climate EU countries, she said “it
for 2020 by a wide margin, accord. would be very important”
even as Merkel’s govern- Merkel said Germany aims to make that the goal for
ment acknowledges that to become climate neu- the entire bloc.q