The President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, reacted to the capture of the Venezuelan authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro by US Army special units and the renewed declarations of US President Donald Trump about the future annexation of Greenland by the US.
“Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark has made it unmistakably clear: Threats and annexation fantasies are not acceptable. Especially not towards a people that clearly states it is not for sale. Full solidarity with that,” the Austrian president posted on X today.
“This once again shows what I’ve been emphasising for years: Europe’s security is not a given. #Europe must finally be able to protect itself. It is high time for Europe to become economically strong, politically capable of action, and above all, capable of defence,” Alexander Van der Bellen added.
A day before, in light of the events in Venezuela, President Van der Bellen urged for “a swift de-escalation”.
“Maduro is not a legitimate, democratically elected president, and I understand that many Venezuelans desire a different future: one in freedom and democracy,” he wrote.
“However, international law must be upheld at the same time. In addition, our priority now is the safety of the Austrian people in Venezuela. Europe stands for a path on which neither the law of the strongest nor purely capitalist interests prevail. For a path of liberal democracy, the rule of law, and international law. These are our European stars that shine and provide orientation when it gets dark elsewhere,” the Austrian president emphasised.
Alexander Van der Bellen wrote that the world order has arrived at a new reality, “in which the arbitrariness of the stronger is increasingly prevailing.
“We, that is Austria and the European Union, must now do everything possible to ensure international relations are based on international law and to demand adherence to the principles of the UN Charter. It is also clear that in this new world order, we can only assert ourselves together – as a strong, united, and capable European Union,” he wrote today on his X account.