France on Monday voiced support for Denmark amid escalating US rhetoric toward Greenland.

Speaking to TF1, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux stressed that sovereignty and borders remain governed by international law, stating, "Borders cannot be changed by force." He added that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the Danes, and it is up to them to decide what to do with it."

The remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump once again asserted that Greenland should fall under US control, dismissing objections from Copenhagen and Greenlandic leaders who have repeatedly affirmed the territory’s right to decide its own future. Trump has repeatedly framed Greenland as essential to US national security and has refused to rule out the use of military force to secure control of the strategically located, mineral-rich island.

Coercion replaces diplomacy

French officials linked Trump’s statements on Greenland directly to Washington’s recent aggression on Venezuela, during which President Maduro was kidnapped and taken to New York. The operation has drawn criticism from legal scholars and diplomats who warned against the US' unilateral measures.

The episode has intensified European concerns that coercive power is increasingly replacing diplomacy and multilateral norms. These fears have been amplified by public statements from figures aligned with Trump’s political circle, some of whom openly celebrated the prospect of annexing Greenland in the immediate aftermath of the Venezuela operation.

Confavreux confirmed that France believes "international law had not been respected" in the US operation in Venezuela. While the spokesman distanced Paris from Maduro politically, saying "We will not mourn" a leader who "had lost his legitimacy," he underlined that legality cannot be subordinated to political preferences or strategic calculations.

'Rules-based' order

France, he said, has a responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to oppose breaches of the UN Charter, regardless of which state commits them. "We deplore it, we are preparing for this advent of the law of the strongest, but we are not resigned to it," Confavreux said, signaling concern that unchecked force risks hollowing out the post-WW II international system.

Beyond Venezuela, Paris’ remarks reflect growing unease across Europe that Washington’s willingness to kidnap foreign leaders and threaten territorial takeovers poses direct challenges to Indigenous self-determination and post-colonial legal principles. Greenland, whose Inuit population has long pursued autonomy and the right to chart its own political destiny, has repeatedly rejected external claims over its land, resources, and strategic position.

Greenland’s self-rule arrangements grant the territory broad internal autonomy and the recognized legal right to declare independence should its people choose to do so. Inuit leaders and officials in Nuuk have warned that US rhetoric reduces Greenland to a geopolitical asset.

Read more: US attack on Venezuela revives fears of Trump push to take Greenland