The Difficult Questions for NATO and the European Union as Trump Makes Threats About the Arctic Island

Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Committed, mostly composed of European officials, convened in Paris with delegates of the Trump administration, aiming to achieve further headway on a sustainable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to end the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that meeting desired to endanger keeping the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an colossal unspoken issue in that grand and sparkling Paris meeting, and the underlying mood was profoundly tense.

Consider the actions of the last few days: the White House's contentious intervention in Venezuela and the President Trump's declaration shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic but is an semi-independent territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was positioned across from two powerful individuals speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU counterparts to refrain from antagonising the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that undermines US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to separate Greenland and the negotiations on Ukraine separate. But with the political temperature escalating from Washington and Denmark, representatives of big EU countries at the gathering released a declaration stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the North must therefore be achieved collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners such as the United States".

"It is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and no one else, to decide on affairs concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the statement further stated.

The communique was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics argue it was tardy to be put together and, owing to the limited group of signatories to the statement, it failed to demonstrate a Europe united in objective.

"If there had been a joint position from all 27 member states, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's control, that would have sent a strong message to Washington," commented a European foreign policy specialist.

Consider the irony at play at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other officials, such as the alliance and the EU, are trying to engage the US administration in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist geopolitical designs of an external actor (Moscow), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela with force, taking its president into custody, while also still openly threatening the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, extremely key friends. Or were.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a significant crisis for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his intention to control the Arctic island. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

On Sunday that the territory is "vitally important right now, Greenland is patrolled by Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of defense and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Copenhagen refutes that claim. It not long ago pledged to spend $4bn in Arctic security for boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a mutual pact, the US operates a strategic outpost already on the island – set up at the beginning of the Cold War. It has scaled down the figure of personnel there from around 10,000 during the height of that era to approximately 200 and the US has long been accused of taking its eye off the northern theater, up to this point.

Denmark has suggested it is open to discussion about a larger US footprint on the territory and additional measures but faced with the US President's threat of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges across Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – once again – the EU's fundamental vulnerability {