Sovereignty, integrity of Greenland, Denmark's territory "non-negotiable": Ursula von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that the European Union stands in full solidarity with Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, stressing that their sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable.

In a special address at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, von der Leyen said the EU is preparing an Arctic security support package built on five pillars, including stepped-up investment in Greenland's economy and infrastructure and increased defense spending on European icebreaker capability.

Full solidarity with Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark is the first principle, and the sovereignty and integrity of their territory is non-negotiable, she noted.

Von der Leyen said the EU also plans to channel a major European investment push into Greenland to support the local economy and infrastructure, while using the bloc's defense spending increase to bolster European icebreaker capability and other equipment seen as vital to Arctic security.

She said Europe must adjust to a "new security architecture and realities" and is preparing its own security strategy, including an upgraded Arctic strategy, to be published later this year.

"And at the heart of this will be the fundamental principle: It is for sovereign people to decide their own future," she said.

Sovereignty, integrity of Greenland, Denmark's territory "non-negotiable": Ursula von der Leyen

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship