Trump's renewed ambition to seize Greenland raises alarm in Europe - media
European leaders have been trying for months to decide how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s quixotic desire to seize Greenland, but in recent days their bewilderment and anxiety have only grown, The Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
In particular, Trump’s repeated insistence that the US take control of Greenland has added to the chaos in EU and NATO capitals over how to respond to America’s actions on other geopolitical issues, including the US attack on Venezuela and its ambiguous stance on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"It’s a fine line," said one senior European official. "The solidarity with Denmark is crystal clear for everyone. But then there’s Venezuela where nobody is sorry [Nicolás] Maduro is going, but there are legal questions. And we want to keep the US onside for a dignified outcome in Ukraine."
A second EU official said, "We know who our allies no longer are. It’s just we are still hoping we are wrong and the problem will go away," referring to Trump’s disregard for the generation-old transatlantic alliance and the need for Europe to reduce its reliance on Washington. "We know what needs to be done, we just need to bloody do it."
European officials said the military operation to capture Maduro showed that Trump does not feel constrained by international law and that his rhetoric on Greenland should be taken seriously.
Danish officials have repeatedly said they are willing to work with Trump on strengthening security in the Arctic. The United States already has a single military base in Greenland under a 75-year-old defense treaty, and local authorities have been open in recent years about expanding its presence or opening a new one. But the United States has reduced its presence on the Arctic island from a Cold War peak of more than 10,000 troops to fewer than 200 now.
Greenlandic ministers have also said their island is “open for business.” But officials say American investors are slow to show interest in the nascent mining industry.
"The only thing they haven’t yet offered is something they can’t ever offer: for Greenland to become part of America," said one senior EU diplomat. Another added: “They don’t need to annex it. They can have whatever they want. That is what makes it so puzzling," said one senior EU diplomat.
NATO and EU officials pointed to coordinated statements by European leaders in support of Denmark, issued in the past 24 hours by senior diplomats from across the continent, as evidence that Europe is adjusting its response to Trump’s heightened rhetoric. The Greenland issue is particularly sensitive for NATO and its Secretary-General, Mark Rutte. Any U.S. military action to seize the island would lead to direct conflict between the two allies, challenging the alliance’s fundamental norm of mutual defense and likely forcing the alliance’s other 30 members to choose sides.