European leaders reject Trump’s Greenland takeover threat

View of a central part of the Greenlandic capital Nuuk with the Nuuk Center shopping and office complex (L) on February 04, 2025. Seven European countries have voiced solidarity with Greenland as the United States threatens to annex the Arctic island, saying only Greenland and Denmark have the right to decide on its future | File Photo: Steffen Trumpf/dpa

Copenhagen: Seven European leaders expressed solidarity with Greenland after renewed threats by President Donald Trump about the United States taking control of the Danish territory.

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the statement said.

The joint statement was signed by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark.

It was issued following new comments by Trump asserting Washington’s interest in bringing the largely autonomous territory under U.S. control, saying Washington “needs” Greenland for national security purposes.

The leaders stressed the importance of the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.

They also noted that the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland, is part of NATO, and said security in the Arctic must therefore be “achieved collectively” with NATO allies, including the United States.

“Arctic security remains a key priority for Europe and it is critical for international and transatlantic security,” the statement said.

“The United States is an essential partner in this endeavour, as a NATO ally and through the defence agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States of 1951.”

On Sunday evening, a day after Washington’s stunning military operation to capture Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Trump told reporters: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”

The comment raised in alarm across Europe, with a German government spokesman saying that “borders must not be shifted by force, and territories must not be annexed by force.”

Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived an idea first raised during his initial term of gaining control of the island, citing its strategic importance for defence and its mineral wealth, and has not ruled out the use of force. Denmark and Greenland have vehemently rejected the notion.

Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, on Monday said that it was “the formal position of the U.S. government that Greenland should be part of the U.S.”

Miller argued that as NATO’s leading military power, the U.S. needed control of Greenland to secure the Arctic region.

He also questioned Denmark’s sovereignty over the territory, asking on what legal basis Greenland belonged to Denmark and why the island should remain a “colony of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that an attack by the United States on another NATO member would mark the end of the Western defence alliance and the post-World War II security architecture.

Last month, Denmark summoned the U.S. ambassador for talks after Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as special envoy for Greenland.

Landry, a Republican like Trump, had said in a post on social media that it was “an honor” to serve Trump in making “Greenland a part of the U.S.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the U.S. military base in northern Greenland in March, where he slammed NATO ally Denmark for having “underinvested” in the territory’s people and security.

Greenland – the world’s largest island – is four-fifths covered in ice and home to just under 57,000 people. Trump has cast the acquisition as part of a scramble for the Arctic by powers such as China and Russia.