Jan 16, 2026, 06:43Jan 16, 2026, 06:43
The US government is unimpressed by the arrival of soldiers from NATO countries in Greenland. “I don’t believe that soldiers in Europe influence the president’s decision-making process or that it has any impact on his goal of acquiring Greenland,” US President Donald Trump’s government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at the White House.
Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s government spokeswoman.Image: keystone
Several of Denmark’s NATO allies are currently sending soldiers to the Arctic island as part of a military reconnaissance mission. The exploration led by Denmark is not a NATO mission – but the countries involved are member states of the defense alliance.
The largely autonomous Greenland is part of the territory of NATO member Denmark. The German Bundeswehr is also taking part in the mission. An A400M transport plane took off from Wunstorf Air Base in Lower Saxony on Thursday with just over a dozen soldiers on board. After a stop in Denmark, the soldiers and other partners are scheduled to arrive in Greenland today on a civilian Danish aircraft.
A Danish military ship near Greenland’s capital Nuuk.Image: keystone
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands, among others, are sending soldiers. Some have reportedly already arrived.
If the worst comes to the worst, EU states would have to come to Denmark’s aid
A spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made it clear: In the event of a violent conflict over Greenland, Germany and the other EU states could have to provide assistance at Denmark’s request.
Greenland is part of the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and therefore fundamentally falls under the mutual solidarity clause in Article 42 paragraph 7 of the EU Treaty, said the spokeswoman for the German Press Agency. At the same time, she emphasized that the question of application does not currently arise. In principle, a military confrontation is considered very unlikely because nobody would probably take on the most powerful military force in the world.
Russian ambassador accuses NATO of militarizing the Arctic
In view of the US claims on Greenland, the Russian ambassador in Denmark accuses NATO of wanting to build up military forces in the Arctic. NATO countries, including Denmark, are using the specter of a Russian or Chinese threat on a large scale to militarize the Arctic, Vladimir Barbin told the Russian state news agency Tass. NATO member Denmark is pursuing a confrontational approach “by drawing NATO into the Arctic,” which is leading to increasing military tensions in the region.
Russia, with its long northern coast on the Arctic Ocean, considers the Arctic to be its sphere of interest. It is increasingly using the region’s sea routes and expanding its military presence.
US speaks of a “productive meeting”
A crisis meeting between the USA, Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday failed to bring about a solution to the conflict over US ownership claims. According to Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance revealed “fundamental” differences of opinion. Trump wasn’t there.
US government spokeswoman Leavitt spoke of a “productive meeting”. She said it was agreed to set up a working group to conduct technical discussions on the purchase of Greenland. She was told that these meetings should take place every two to three weeks, Leavitt added.
Immediately before the meeting, the US President had made it clear once again that he was not thinking of giving up his interest in Greenland, which is rich in raw materials. He once again referred to strategic security interests of the United States that allegedly could not be protected through NATO.
Trump’s statements are causing a stir and concern, especially because he has not yet ruled out military coercion in order to gain control over Greenland. The island is four-fifths covered with ice and six times the size of Germany, but only has around 57,000 inhabitants. (dab/sda/dpa)