Medellín, Colombia – Since the forcible removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power by American forces, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to enact some form of regime change in various other countries, including Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland.
Although the EU called for international law to be respected in the aftermath of the Venezuelan operation, it refrained from condemning the U.S. for the operation. The United Kingdom also avoided condemning its transatlantic ally over the capture of Maduro.
But the EU and the UK held a firmer stance on Trump’s threats towards Greenland; both called for Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty to be respected by the United States and troops from Sweden, Germany, Norway, France and the UK were sent to the Arctic territory for the official purpose of participating in a “reconnaissance mission”.
However, many speculated that the European troops’ presence was intended to deter a potential American invasion.
Steve Witherden, the Labour Party MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cuba, spoke to Latin America Reports about the necessity for both the UK and EU to more consistently stand up to Trump on the international stage.
Though the Welsh politician welcomed British and European unequivocal opposition to the threats against Greenland, he remarked that UK-EU opposition to Trump’s threats of regime change should be more coordinated and less selective.
“We [in the UK] really do need to speed up our realignment with the European Union and try to speak with a much more cohesive voice on the international stage in the face of Trump’s behaviour”, he said.
In his capacity as the newly-elected Chair of the APPG on Cuba, Witherden called on the UK and European countries to, for example, “be a lot more vocal” in their condemnation of a potential American attack on Cuba than they were in the aftermath of the Venezuela operation. “We should be calling out that behaviour for what it is … unlawful, disgusting and wrong”, he added.
Members of the APPG wrote a letter to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in which they implored the British leader “to treat a US bombardment of Cuba and the abduction of its leadership” as a “red line”, “recognize the US military action in Venezuela as a violation of the UN Charter” and “rule out UK support or acquiescence for a similar military assault on Cuba”.
Despite Witherden’s insistence, both the EU and UK appear to have taken more ambiguous positions on Trump’s threats against non-NATO nations and territories; the British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper reaffirmed Britain’s “commitment to international law” to Parliament without explicitly condemning Trump’s threats against Colombia or Cuba.
Similarly, the EU has repeatedly called for international law to be respected but has thus far refrained from condemning Trump’s threats of regime change in Colombia and Cuba.
Featured Image: European troops arrive in Greenland shortly after Trump threatened to annex the Arctic island
Image Credit: Open Source Intel via X
License: Creative Commons Licenses
This article originally appeared on EU Reports and was re-published with permission.
