Ranking Member Shaheen Delivers Speech on the State of the Transatlantic Relationship at the University of Copenhagen

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a speech on the state of the transatlantic and U.S.-Denmark relationships at the University of Copenhagen. The Senator traveled to Denmark as part of a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to highlight more than 200 years of friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Ranking Member Shaheen's remarks as prepared:

Thank you, it's great to be here with all of you today. I'm Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire and the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I am here with a bipartisan delegation of Senators who are strongly supportive of the Danish-American relationship as well as the NATO alliance more broadly.

My father was stationed in Greenland during World War II. His service to protect the United States and free Europe from Nazi Germany shaped my appreciation for the transatlantic alliance from a very young age. Eighty years on, the NATO Alliance is as vital as ever.

I am here today because millions of Americans are deeply concerned by the recent rhetoric about the United States taking over Greenland, either buying it or using military force. That rhetoric doesn't just undermine our bilateral relationship, it undermines the NATO Alliance at a time when our adversaries seek to benefit from division.

So we are here to listen to Danish and Greenlandic officials, to students and to our partners because trust is the foundation of security. Those roots reach back to 1792, when Denmark recognized the independence of the United States. And it has grown stronger and closer over time. Americans and Danes both died fighting the Nazis in World War II. Denmark was a founding member of NATO and we were closely allied during the Cold War.

And after the United States was attacked on 9/11, Denmark was among the first to invoke NATO's Article 5. Danish soldiers fought and died alongside American forces in Afghanistan, losing 43 service members - one of the highest per-capita casualty rates among NATO allies.

Today, Denmark has boosted its defense spending to exceed the NATO target this year. Part of that is with new investments in drones and F-35 fighter jets as well as ice-capable ships that will be able to patrol the Arctic. And Denmark has been one of the leading supporters of Ukraine's defense. Taken together, those commitments are exactly how alliances deter aggression and preserve peace. That is what makes NATO the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen.

And it's not just defense and security. Danish-Americans have made important contributions to our country. We have a strong economic partnership made possible by shared values and mutual trust.

In my home state of New Hampshire and across the United States, Danish companies support good jobs - from Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company to ECCO, the shoe company. And of course, every American child was raised playing with LEGOs.

Why would anyone undermine this relationship? Why would anyone chip away at security and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic? There is no good answer.

As your Prime Minister has said, an American military takeover of Greenland would threaten NATO as we know it. And even short of that, just the suggestion that the U.S. would take Greenland by force does real damage to America's national security. It erodes decades of hard-won confidence among allies and weakens the sense of security that comes with it.

President Trump's rhetoric plays right into the hands of two of our greatest adversaries: Russia and China. Putin would welcome any move that fractures NATO or diverts attention and resources away from Ukraine. If we are serious about limiting Russian influence in the Arctic and beyond, the most effective way to do that is by defeating Putin's war in Ukraine. And that is precisely why the current debate over Greenland makes so little sense.

The United States already has what it needs, including a standing treaty with Greenland dating back to 1951. The United States once operated seventeen bases in Greenland and it was the United States that determined sixteen were no longer necessary.

Anything the President might want - whether it is U.S. bases to defend against Arctic threats or critical minerals deals - the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have made clear they are happy to partner with us. So, the threats are not only unnecessary, they are also counterproductive, and they risk undermining the broader NATO Alliance in the process.

I know there are real, deep concerns here in Denmark and in Greenland. These concerns are understandable when trust is shaken. But I believe saner heads will prevail.

And I believe that because institutions are already acting. On both sides of the aisle in Congress, there is overwhelming support for NATO and for the U.S.-Danish relationship. And among the American people, eighty-six percent of whom, in a recent poll, said they oppose the use of military force to take Greenland.

Just last week Senator Murkowski and I introduced legislation that would prevent the Administration from threatening NATO unity and ultimately block the U.S. from seizing Greenland.

Our alliances are simply too valuable to give up on. The idea of a world where we have no alliances, where we have abrogated the international world order is not safe - not for Americans, not for Danes, not for you, not for me. The only people who benefit from that sort of world are the autocrats in Moscow and Beijing.

And so, to all of you here today, especially the students in this room, I want to encourage you to continue to stay engaged.
Do not give up on our alliances. Do not give up on the idea that we can work together. It's what got us here and it's what we'll need to thrive in the years to come.

Thank you.

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