Macron visits Greenland to show European support for the strategic Arctic island coveted by Trump

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Greenland is “not to be sold” nor “to be taken” in a key visit Sunday to the strategic Arctic territory coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he's conveying a message of French and European solidarity.

Macron expressed strong criticism of Trump’s intention to take control of the territory.

"In a few words: everybody in France, the European Union thinks that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,” he said during a news conference, applauded by the local crowd.

"The situation in Greenland is clearly a wakeup call for all Europeans. Let me tell you very directly that you’re not alone," Macron added.

Sunday's symbolic stop to Greenland comes as the French leader is on his way to a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Canada that will be also attended by Trump.

Macron was greeted in Nuuk, the territory's capital, by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Asked whether France would be ready to militarily support Greenland if Trump was to decide to invade, Macron declined to discuss the hypothesis.

“I won’t start elaborating on ‘what if’ scenarios publicly,” he said. “Because I don’t believe that in the end, the U.S., which is an ally and a friend, would ever do something aggressive against another ally.”

Macron in recent months has sought to reinvigorate France's role as the diplomatic and economic heavyweight of the 27-nation European Union.

The French president has positioned himself as a leader in Europe amid Trump's threats to pull support from Ukraine as it fights against Russia's invasion. Macron hosted a summit in Paris with other European heads of state to discuss Kyiv, as well as security issues on the continent.

On Sunday, Macron, Frederiksen and Nielsen held a meeting on a Danish helicopter carrier, showing France’s concerns over security issues in the region.

All three then headed to a fast-melting glacier where they watched the consequences of climate change. The visit also allowed them to discuss economic development, low-carbon energy transition and critical minerals.

“It’s a strange time for us in Greenland,” Nielsen said. “We live on some democratic principles built up for many years: respect for international law, respect for borders, respect for law of the sea, and we are glad you could stand with us to state that those principles are very very important.”

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force if necessary but refused to answer repeated questions during a hotly combative congressional hearing Thursday about his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations.

Hegseth's comments were the latest controversial remarks made by a member of the Trump administration about the Arctic island. The president himself has said he won't rule out military force to take over Greenland, which he considers vital to American security in the high north.

The Wall Street Journal last month reported that several high-ranking officials under the U.S. director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had directed intelligence agency heads to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and sentiment about U.S. resource extraction there.

Nielsen in April said that U.S. statements about the island have been disrespectful and that Greenland “will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.”

Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Danish frigate F363 Niels Juel in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, and Greenlandic leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen at a glacier in Greenland, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, and the Greenlandic leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen hold a press conference in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a news conference in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen are briefed by Major General, Chief of Arctic Command Soeren Andersen aboard the Danish frigate F363 Niels Juel in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, 2nd right, and Greenlandic leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen aboard the Danish frigate F363 Niels Juel in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday, June 15, 2025.(Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Nuuk Airport in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Nuuk Airport in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. The Chairman of the Naalakkersuisut, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, is hosting during the French President's visit, where Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is also participating. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Scanpix via AP)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump attend the traditional Bastille Day military parade July 14, 2017, on the Champs Elysees, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization sought Saturday to reassure residents of the Spanish island where passengers of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are expected to be evacuated, issuing them a direct message that the virus was “not another COVID.”

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, is headed to Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, and is expected to arrive at the island of Tenerife early Sunday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, were due on the island Saturday to coordinate the disembarkation of passengers and some crew.

“I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak’ and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” Tedros said in a message to the people of Tenerife.

“But I need you to hear me clearly: This is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now,” Tedros added.

The WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said nobody on the Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus.

Hantavirus can cause life-threatening illness. It usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus.

Some on Tenerife say they are worried. On board the cruise ship, some Spanish passengers have voiced concern about being stigmatized.

“I tell you, I don’t like this very much,” said 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal. “Anyone can say what they want. Why did they have to bring a boat from another country here? Why not anywhere else, why bring it to the Canary Islands?”

Others said they empathized with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

“The truth is that it is very worrying,” said 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero. She added: “We feel a bit unsafe, we don’t feel as there are 100% security measures in place to welcome it. This is a virus after all and we have lived this during the pandemic. But we also need to have empathy.”

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife “under maximum safety conditions.”

The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms and won't be taken off the ship until a flight is already in Tenerife waiting to fly them off the island, Garcia said during a news conference in Madrid. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined, Garcia said. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister added.

According to a letter sent by the Dutch foreign and health ministers to parliament late Friday, Spain has activated the EU civil protection mechanism for a medical evacuation plane equipped for infections diseases to be on standby in case anyone on the ship becomes ill. That person would then be transported by air to the European mainland.

The Dutch government will work with Spanish authorities and the ship company to arrange repatriation of Dutch passengers and crew as soon as possible after arrival in Tenerife, subject to medical conditions and advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the letter said. Those without symptoms will go into home quarantine for six weeks and be monitored by local health services.

As the ship is Dutch-flagged, the Netherlands may also temporarily accommodate people of other nationalities and monitor them in quarantine, it said.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked before the deadly outbreak was detected. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them.

On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing, Dutch officials and the ship’s operator have said.

It wasn’t until May 2 that health authorities first confirmed hantavirus in a passenger.

Dutch public health authorities have been monitoring people who were on a flight that was briefly boarded by a Dutch ship passenger who later died and was confirmed to have hantavirus. Three people who were on the flight and had symptoms have all tested negative for hantavirus, Dutch National Institute for Public Health spokesperson Harald Wychgel told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Becatoros reported from Sparta, Greece. Associated Press reporters Angela Charlton in Paris and Helena Alves in Tenerife contributed to this report.

A Spanish Civil Guard officer inspects the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Media crew members stand in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Workers set up temporary shelters in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Passengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger checks his camera inside his cabin on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, takes a photo of the ship's weighing anchor in Praia, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)