French Minister for Economy, Finance, and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty Roland Lescure arrives to deliver a statement before a meeting on the 2026 budget bill (PLF 2026) with parliamentary groups representatives at the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. REUTERS
Jan 16 (Reuters) – France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure has warned U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that any move to seize Greenland would amount to a “crossed line” endangering Europe’s economic relationship with Washington, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
“Greenland is a sovereign part of a sovereign country that is part of the EU. That shouldn’t be messed around [with],”, Lescure told FT.
When asked whether the EU should retaliate with economic sanctions if U.S. President Donald Trump were to invade Greenland, Lescure told FT “I’m not going there. I mean, obviously, if that happened we would be in a totally new world for sure, and we would have to adapt accordingly.”
Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
