Ian Borg says Malta won’t rush into a position on US-Greenland row

Malta will not be rushed into taking a position on the row over US President Donald Trump's wish to take over Greenland, Foreign Minister Ian Borg said on Monday.

“Given that there is no common [EU] position [on Greenland], I ask why Malta should be presumptuous and be the first to pronounce itself, especially when you consider the fact that Malta is not part of NATO,” Borg told journalists.

“NATO and the Secretary General of NATO have not even pronounced themselves on this discussion,” Borg added.

Greenland is part of Denmark, which, like the United States, is a NATO member state. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday that he was worried by the prospect of the United States seizing Greenland from Denmark by force.

“It’s very worrying, as it involves the territorial integrity of an EU state. Consequently, if Denmark’s sovereignty were to be threatened, certain treaty obligations would come into play,” he said.

Trump's push for Greenland - and the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro - has left European countries in a difficult spot. While several European countries have insisted that they will defend sovereign borders, there is still no clear strategy on how to deter the US president. 

Foreign policy experts who spoke to Times of Malta last week agreed that the world is going through a historic and challenging shift in power dynamics, but differed on their views of how Malta should position itself in this new world.

Speaking on Monday, Borg noted that there are different views even across Europe and that the EU does not have the powers to advance a common position.

"The experts you spoke to based their calls on some presuppositions," he said. 

“Firstly, that Europe should have one voice. Secondly, the EU should have an independent and strong military which is politically equally strong on an international level. And then we should have one foreign policy,” he said. “But the problem is that the EU has none of the above.”

When asked whether Malta always needed to wait for the EU to make a statement before it did, Borg pushed back, saying Malta had contributed to, rather than waited for, the EU’s position.

He pointed to Malta’s joint action with the EU in response to US intervention in Venezuela. Almost all EU countries called for “restraint” and for the upholding of international law, after the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and took him to the United States. Hungary was the only EU member state not to sign the statement.

Borg remained cautious in his remarks about Trump. In October 2025, he nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in mediating the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

When asked whether he still stands by that decision, he neither confirmed nor denied it. However, he said he was grateful for Trump’s intervention in Armenia and Azerbaijan.