Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.The European Union has reaffirmed its solidarity with Denmark and Greenland as it seeks an effective response to renewed threats by US President Donald Trump to seize the Arctic island.
“On Greenland, allow me to be clear: Greenland belongs to its people,” said European Council President António Costa on Wednesday in the face of fresh US claims to the world’s largest island. “Nothing can be decided about Denmark or Greenland without Denmark, or without Greenland. They have the full support and solidarity of the European Union.”
Trump has insisted the United States “need Greenland for reasons of national security”, citing the increased presence of Chinese and Russian ships in the Arctic region as a threat. He has repeatedly refused to rule out using force to seize the strategic island, prompting shock and anger from Denmark and other longstanding European allies of the United States.
On Tuesday the White House said Trump was “discussing options” to take control of Greenland, including military action. On Wednesday it said he had “actively discussed” the purchase of Greenland with his team.
Denmark, Greenland and the European Union have firmly rejected Trump’s claims on the island.
Greenland’s capital Nuuk and Denmark’s capital Copenhagen have repeatedly said that the territory is not for sale and that only Greenland can decide its future. It is currently governed by a coalition that has no plans to seek independence from Denmark in the immediate future.
The island is part of the kingdom of Denmark, but is largely autonomous and not a member of the EU. It is strategically interesting because of its wealth of raw materials and as a base for military control of the Arctic.
Trump set off alarm bells in Europe in the wake of his military intervention in Venezuela, in which US special forces early on Saturday captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. According to the French news agency AFP, the capture also unleashed waves of misinformation online.
So far there has been no sign of the sort of military buildup witnessed around Venezuela and some US officials have been pressing other options – but in Europe, the events in Caracas have raised concerns that Greenland could be in for a similar scenario.
Why Washington wants a firmer grip on Greenland
Greenland has been in Trump’s sights since his first term in office. The relationship between the US and Greenland goes back decades.
Greenland’s location is highly strategic, lying on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the US. It is therefore a crucial part of the US anti-missile shield.
In 1941, at the height of World War II, Denmark – at the time occupied by Nazi Germany – authorised the US to build and operate military bases on Greenland, Denmark’s then-colony in the Arctic, for as long as the conflict would last, in a bid to protect the American continent.
Denmark’s ambassador in Washington, isolated from Copenhagen, independently negotiated the agreement with the US to protect Greenland, which is geographically part of North America.
By the end of the war, the US had 15 military bases in Greenland. Today just one remains, the Pituffik air base on the northwestern coast.
Since 1951, a Danish agreement with the US – revised in 2004 – gives the US military practically carte blanche to do what it wants on Greenlandic territory, as long as it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance.
Trump has argued that Denmark has failed to ensure the security of Greenland, which measures 2.2 million square kilometres (849,424 square miles), or about a fifth of the size of the entire European continent.
In the past year, Copenhagen has beefed up its investments in Greenland. In 2025, it allocated 1.2 billion Euro to security in the region, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen recalled on Monday.
A recent report by Denmark’s military intelligence service said Russia, China and the United States were all vying to play “a greater role” in the Arctic.
Greenland has untapped rare earth deposits and could be a vital player as melting polar ice – a result of climate change – opens up new shipping routes.
Greenland, which lies in the Western Hemisphere, is the size of the biggest US state of Alaska and has a population of only 57,000 people. Its integration would catapult the US past China to having the third largest land mass after Russia and Canada.
A year ago, 85 percent of Greenlanders however said they opposed joining the US, according to a poll published in the Danish and Greenlandic press.
Europe fears NATO break-up
Representatives of six EU countries and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement on Tuesday that Greenland belongs to its people and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Denmark and the UK said that security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively, in cooperation with allies in the NATO military alliance, including the United States.
Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen warned that a US military move against Greenland or any other NATO member would shatter the alliance, ending “everything” including NATO and the post-World War II security structure.
Denmark is a founding member of NATO and has been a steadfast US ally, including controversially sending troops to support the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both sought to play down the row as they attended Ukraine peace talks in Paris alongside Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. “I cannot imagine a scenario in which the United States of America would be placed in a position to violate Danish sovereignty,” Macron said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urged Washington to respect international law, saying the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders enshrined in the UN Charter must be upheld.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said “Spain will always be actively committed to the United Nations and in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland”.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that no NATO member should attack or threaten another member of the alliance. “Otherwise, NATO would lose its meaning if within the pact there was a conflict or mutual aggressive steps,” he said in Paris.
Trump, in sharp contrast to previous US presidents, has criticised NATO, seeing it not as an instrument of US power but as smaller countries freeloading off US military spending. “We will always be there for NATO, even if they won’t be there for us,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.
Denmark-US talks ahead
Other European countries have also weighed in on the issue.
The Portuguese government is totally aligned with the EU on pushing back on Trump comments seeking Greenland, reaffirming the Arctic island “belongs to its people”.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has expressed support for the seven countries’ statement. “The security of the Arctic can be maintained with the joint efforts of all allies, including the US, and above all with consistent respect for the principles of international law and the UN Charter, such as territorial integrity, sovereignty and the inviolability of borders,” he said.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told reporters that he did not think there should be “an American intervention in Greenland”, adding that there was no one within the European Union who could welcome or approve such a situation. “We believe that this will not happen”, he said.
Others have reacted cautiously in anticipation of direct discussions between Denmark, Greenland and the US.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said: “I don’t know if these declarations will bring anything or not,” adding that “we have enough conflicts as it is, without having to deal with this issue among allies”. The Czech Republic is convinced that there is room to resolve the issue through dialogue between Denmark and the United States, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he plans to meet representatives of Denmark next week to discuss the US interest in Greenland.
This article is an ENR Key Story. The content is based on information published by ENR participating agencies.