Those Uncomfortable Issues for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the EU as Trump Targets Greenland

Earlier today, a informal Alliance of the Determined, mostly made up of European heads of state, convened in Paris with delegates of US President Donald Trump, hoping to achieve additional headway on a lasting peace deal for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a framework to end the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", not a single person in that meeting wanted to jeopardise keeping the Americans engaged.

Yet, there was an enormous glaring omission in that grand and sparkling summit, and the fundamental mood was profoundly tense.

Consider the developments of the last few days: the US administration's divisive incursion in the South American nation and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It is situated in the far north but is an autonomous region of Denmark's.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting facing two powerful personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from European colleagues not to alienating the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that impacts US support for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have far preferred to separate the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war separate. But with the political temperature mounting from the White House and Denmark, representatives of leading states at the Paris meeting issued a declaration saying: "Greenland is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together, in cooperation with NATO allies such as the US".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to determine on affairs regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was welcomed by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was slow to be drafted and, owing to the limited set of signatories to the declaration, it failed to demonstrate a Europe united in objective.

"If there had been a unified statement from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in support of Danish sovereignty, that would have conveyed a powerful message to the US," commented a EU foreign policy analyst.

Ponder the contradiction at work at the France meeting. Multiple EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are attempting to engage the White House in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist geopolitical designs of an external actor (Russia), just after the US has entered independent Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also still actively threatening the sovereignty of a different EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both members of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely close allies. At least, they were.

The dilemma is, were Trump to make good on his goal to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a significant problem for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident Trump has expressed his resolve to acquire the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of acquiring it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

On Sunday that the island is "crucially located right now, it is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of strategic interests and Copenhagen is incapable to handle it".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It not long ago vowed to invest $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US operates a strategic outpost already on Greenland – set up at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the total of personnel there from about 10,000 during the height of the confrontation to approximately 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking the northern theater, until now.

Copenhagen has suggested it is willing to talk about a larger US role on the territory and further cooperation but in light of the US President's threat of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders across Europe are heeding that warning.

"This whole situation has just emphasized – once again – Europe's core vulnerability {