This is likely to be a big week as far as the ownership of Greenland is concerned.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will discuss the matter with Danish officials on Wednesday, January 14th. He said ahead of the meeting that “we always prefer to settle [national security issues] in different ways” than through military means, though he did not rule this option out.
Donald Trump also reiterated on Sunday that the U.S. will ‘take’ Greenland “one way or the other,” warning:
If we don’t … Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has stressed that “we are ready to defend our values—wherever it is necessary—also in the Arctic.” But Trump has dismissed such claims, describing Greenland’s defence as “two dog sleds.”
Other European leaders have reacted angrily to recent pronouncements, but it is unclear whether they will do more than release strongly worded statements. Paris’ insistence, for example, that it has the right to say “no” to the United States amounts to pretty much nothing.
Some leaders did go a step further over the weekend, talking about the possibility of deploying NATO-backed military forces to Greenland to protect it from Russia and China. The intention is to persuade Washington that Europe is capable of defending Greenland from foreign threats by itself.
German officials are also in the U.S. this week, where they say they will express their support for Denmark and Greenland. Foreign Minister Johann Wadehpul stressed that “if the American president is looking at what threats might come from Russian or Chinese ships or submarines in the region, we can of course find answers to that together,” adding: “The future of Greenland must be decided by the people of Greenland” and Denmark.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
