French FM backs Greenland, Denmark, rules out territorial sales amid US claims

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot expressed support for Greenland and Denmark, stressing that the era of buying or selling territories, like Louisiana in the past, is long over amid potential US claims on the island.

Writing on social media platform X, Barrot referenced the historical example of the United States purchasing Louisiana from France in 1803, Caliber.Az reports.

"We are no longer in the era when it was possible to buy or sell Louisiana,” the French minister said.

Nous ne sommes plus à l'époque où on pouvait acheter ou vendre la Louisiane. pic.twitter.com/RRv4xQiaF6

— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) January 8, 2026

He added that Denmark can count on full solidarity from European countries in the face of any attempts to assert claims over Greenland.

Greenland, a vast semi‑autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, is included in NATO through Denmark’s membership. Its Arctic location gives it significant military importance, reinforced by a long-standing US military presence under defence agreements.

US President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested bringing Greenland under US control for strategic purposes, a proposal firmly rejected by both Danish and Greenlandic authorities as a breach of sovereignty.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any US attack or attempt to seize Greenland—a territory of a NATO ally—would threaten or potentially dismantle the alliance’s collective security framework established after World War II.

Leaders from France, Britain, Germany, Spain, and Poland expressed support for Denmark, emphasising that Greenland’s future can only be determined by Greenland and Denmark, and highlighting the need to uphold international law and maintain NATO unity.

By Jeyhun Aghazada