🔗 Share this article

Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Determined, predominantly consisting of EU leaders, met in the French capital with delegates of the Trump administration, aiming to achieve additional progress on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a roadmap to conclude the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that meeting desired to risk maintaining the Washington engaged.

Yet, there was an immense glaring omission in that opulent and sparkling gathering, and the underlying tension was profoundly tense.

Bear in mind the events of the last few days: the US administration's divisive involvement in the South American nation and the American leader's insistence soon after, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's sixfold the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the far north but is an semi-independent territory of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was positioned facing two powerful individuals speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from her EU counterparts not to alienating the US over the Greenland issue, for fear that that undermines US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have much rather to keep the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on Ukraine apart. But with the diplomatic heat rising from Washington and Denmark, leaders of major states at the gathering issued a statement asserting: "Greenland is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in conjunction with alliance members such as the America".

"It is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to rule on affairs concerning Denmark and Greenland," the declaration further stated.

The announcement was received positively by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was delayed to be drafted and, owing to the restricted number of endorsers to the declaration, it failed to show a European Union united in objective.

"If there had been a common position from all 27 European Union countries, plus alliance partner the UK, in support of Copenhagen's authority, that would have sent a resounding warning to Washington," noted a European defense expert.

Reflect on the paradox at work at the Paris summit. Numerous European government and other officials, including the alliance and the EU, are trying to engage the Trump administration in safeguarding the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to openly challenging the sovereignty of another continental ally (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. Or were.

The issue is, should Trump make good on his goal to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a significant challenge for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident Trump has expressed his intention to control the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

On Sunday that the island is "so strategic right now, it is patrolled by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Denmark contests that claim. It has lately committed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence for boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US has a strategic outpost currently on the island – set up at the start of the East-West standoff. It has cut the total of staff there from about 10,000 during the height of that era to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off the northern theater, up to this point.

Denmark has signaled it is open to discussion about a bigger US role on the island and more but confronted by the US President's warning of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders in Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just underlined – yet again – the EU's core shortcoming {