US President Donald Trump’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 has emboldened him to proceed with the annexation of Greenland, a Danish-owned, self-governed territory, spelling the effective end of NATO and furthering Russia’s war aims in Ukraine, experts tell Al Jazeera.The day after Maduro’s kidnap by US forces, Trump made Europe fretful – a sport of which he never seems to tire – when he told The Atlantic, “We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defence.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listWhite House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said, “It has been the formal position of the US government since the beginning of this administration … that Greenland should be part of the United States.”“The move on Venezuela illustrates the Trump administration’s determination to dominate the Western Hemisphere – of which Greenland geographically is a part,” said Anna Wieslander, Northern Europe director for the Atlantic Council, a think tank. “Since the successful intervention in Venezuela immediately was followed with threats of using force against Greenland, among others in the hemisphere, it has in the short run, made it more likely,” she told Al Jazeera.“Unfortunately, I think the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Denmark’s public broadcaster on January 4.But she predicted it would spell death …
