French President Emmanuel Macron’s first trip to Greenland is aimed at shoring up Europe’s political backing for Denmark and its semiautonomous territory.

The French leader was visiting Greenland — a self-governing part of Denmark with the right to declare independence that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to take over — ahead of a trip to Canada for the G7 leaders' summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Greenland on Sunday, for an official visit designed to bolster European support for the Danish territory, which is still batting away advances from the Trump administration.

PARIS (Reuters) -Greenland is a European territory and it is normal that Europe and France show their interest, French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot told RTL radio on Sunday when asked about French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the Arctic island.

"Greenland is not for taking, and neither are Antarctica nor the high seas for sale," Macron said during his opening speech in the French coastal city of Nice at a United Nations conference on protecting the oceans.