US senators introduce bill to stop Trump seizing Greenland

WASHINGTON, Jan 14: Senators in the United States have introduced a bill aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from seizing NATO territory, including the self-governing Danish island of Greenland.

The bipartisan NATO Unity Protection Act introduced on Tuesday would bar the Department of Defense and Department of State from using funds to "blockade, occupy, annex or otherwise assert control" over the territory of any other NATO member state.

by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Lisa Murkowski, comes amid growing concerns over Trump's repeated insistence that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, must be brought under Washington's control, using force if necessary.

"This bipartisan legislation makes clear that US taxpayer dollars cannot be used for actions that would fracture NATO and violate our own commitments to NATO," Shaheen, who represents the state of New Hampshire, said in a statement.

"This bill sends a clear message that recent rhetoric around Greenland deeply undermines America's own national security interests and faces bipartisan opposition in Congress," the senator said.

Murkowski, a rare Republican critic of Trump who represents Alaska, said the 32-member NATO security alliance was the "strongest line of defence" against efforts to undermine global peace and stability.

"The mere notion that America would use our vast resources against our allies is deeply troubling and must be wholly rejected by Congress in statute," Murkowski said.                    �"AL JAZEERA