Jan 6, 2026, 12:54 p.mJan 6, 2026, 1:16 p.m
The major European partners have committed themselves to the Arctic island and Denmark in the dispute over Greenland fueled by US President Donald Trump. Denmark and Greenland alone would decide on matters affecting Denmark and Greenland, it said in a statement. “Greenland belongs to its people.”
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.Image: keystone
The signatories, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, emphasized the great importance of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders set out in the UN Charter.
The USA is not backing down from its claim
In recent days, Trump has reaffirmed the alleged US claim to the Arctic island. The US needs Greenland for national security, he said. Greenland belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, but is largely autonomous. Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller recently described the US claim to control over Greenland as “the official position of the US government”.
The European states Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Great Britain and Denmark emphasized in their statement that the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland, is “part of NATO”. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together. The USA is “an essential partner” in this regard, both as a NATO ally and within the framework of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Frederiksen had previously stated: “If the USA attacks another NATO country, then everything stops.” That would be the end of the Western defense alliance and with it the security architecture that has existed since the end of the Second World War. The Danish parties called an emergency meeting in parliament. (dab/sda/dpa)