Russia is the “unequivocal winner” in Europe’s deepening rift with the US over Greenland, according to EU Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath.
He said EU-US relations had reached a “dangerous moment” and that Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats were “wholly unjustified”.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Mr McGrath warned that Europe would “robustly” defend its political and economic interests.
“The great tragedy” of the current debacle over Greenland is that “nobody is talking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”, he said.
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Mr McGrath added: “We will be approaching the fourth anniversary [of the war] very shortly . . . we should be focused on resolving that war, which is a war of aggression by Russia.”
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a regular at Davos, was forced to cancel his trip to the WEF this year as his troops struggle to contain a new cross-border attack from Russian forces.
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On Mr Trump’s coercive tactics over Greenland and the EU’s potential response, Mr McGrath said: “We have been crystal clear that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Greenland must be respected in accordance with international law.
“To drive a coach-and-four through that would be entirely unacceptable and would trigger a very strong response not just from the EU but from other actors globally.
“We shouldn’t have to spell that out but unfortunately we’re at a point in global geopolitics that that is necessary,” said McGrath, who added that the focus of both sides should be “to avoid a damaging spiral of action and counter action”.
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Mr Trump earlier this week said his government would impose 10 per cent tariffs on goods on eight European states from next month, rising to 25 per cent in June, unless there was a deal for “the complete and total purchase of Greenland”.
In response, the EU is threatening to impose €93 billion in tariffs of its own and, as a last resort, use its anti-coercion instrument (ACI) which could effectively lock US firms out of the EU’s single market.
From Ireland’s perspective, Mr McGrath said anything that damages the international trading environment and negatively impacts sentiment “is going to be a drag on a small open economy like Ireland”.
On the issue of possible EU bans for apps that allow users to create images that undress or “nudify” people, Mr McGrath said: “The dissemination of non-consensual sexual images of adults and of children is grotesque and completely unacceptable.”
X is facing regulatory scrutiny in several countries after sexualised images of women and children generated by its AI tool Grok were posted online.
Mr McGrath said the European Commission was examining a recent statement by the company that it was taking corrective action and has issued an order to retain the app’s data but has yet to launch a formal investigation.
The EU’s incoming Artificial Intelligence Act would attempt to tackle so-called deepfakes by forcing AI providers and users to label artificially generated or manipulated content, he said. The justice commissioner added that the Digital Fairness Act, due later this year, would deal with “dark patterns, addictive design features and unfair personalisation”.
On a suggestion from Larry Fink – an American billionaire businessman and interim co-chair of the WEF’s governing board – that the event might one day change location from its traditional Alpine venue, Mr McGrath said: “I think it would be difficult to see the WEF departing Davos.”
EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath warns Europe’s response to more US tariffs would be robust
