Sweden rejects idea of great powers doing ‘as they please’

ISTANBUL

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said she rejects a world where great powers do as they please, after renewed US threats to acquire Greenland and its military action in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro.

"I do not want to live in a world where there are great powers that do as they please. That is why it's important for Sweden to stand up for international law at this very critical stage," Stenergard told Swedish Radio News on Wednesday.

Critical of Washington’s remarks on Greenland, she said US calls to take over the territory were worrying and stressed that the island is not for sale.

Stenergard said Denmark and the US must come to terms with recent remarks and return to the cooperative relationship they are used to, moving away from the current rhetoric.

She described the moment as a crossroads for whether the principles of international law will continue to be upheld.

Stenergard also said that Sweden's government believes the recent US military action in Venezuela was not compatible with international law.

Referring to a meeting of the UN Security Council where Denmark said the US actions were a dangerous precedent, Stinnegaard agreed and said the US did not justify its intervention in terms of international law but as a crime-fighting operation.

After the Jan. 3 US military operation in Venezuela that captured Maduro, Trump renewed his call for a takeover of Greenland for "national security" interests.

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and has repeatedly rejected proposals suggesting any transfer of sovereignty to the US.