Denmark pushes for NATO mission to strengthen Greenland defences

Denmark and Greenland have urged NATO to launch a mission to support the island’s defences, as the United States puts pressure on what it claims is inadequate security in the Arctic.

“I believe that we can now hopefully establish a framework for how this can be done,” Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Poulsen said he was seeing “broad support for NATO to do more in the Arctic.”

The minister added that he would like “all countries to be part of Arctic Sentry,” the name of the proposed NATO mission, “at least all NATO countries.” Also present at the meeting was Vivian Motzfeldt, the minister for foreign affairs of Greenland.

Over the past several days, Denmark has led a reconnaissance mission with several European countries in Greenland to map out how best to use the territory to strengthen its military presence.

However, it remains unclear whether the alliance’s largest member, the United States, will back the proposal. Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson declined to say whether Washington would support the idea when asked by reporters at NATO headquarters.

US President Donald Trump has also doubled down on his threats to take control of Greenland, saying there is “no going back.” He was also asked at a news conference how far he was willing to go to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, he replied: “You’ll find out.”

During the press briefing, Trump also told reporters that “things are going to work out pretty well” in Greenland. He said there are “a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland” and that he expected to discuss the matter during his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos. He also said, “Nobody has done more for NATO than I have, in every way. NATO is going to be happy, and we are going to be happy. We need it for world security.”

He also questioned whether NATO would come to the aid of the US, should it be required. “I know we’ll come to [NATO’s] rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours,” he told reporters.

Trump has not ruled out using military force to acquire Greenland. Asked by NBC News on Tuesday whether he would use force to seize the territory, the president replied: “No comment.”

The US president has said he will add a 10% tariff to “any goods” imported from eight European countries from 1 February if they oppose his proposed takeover of Greenland.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the matter directly in a speech at Davos on Tuesday, emphasising that Europe is “fully committed” when it comes to the security of the Arctic.

However, she said that this could only be achieved together and called Trump’s tariff threats “a mistake.”

Von der Leyen added that the European Union stands in “full solidarity” with Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, saying their sovereignty is “non-negotiable.”

Her words were echoed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said that his country’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5 was “unwavering.” “We stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” Carney said.

During his own speech at Davos, French President Emmanuel Macron said he preferred “respect to bullies” and the “rule of law to brutality.” Macron warned of a “shift towards a world without rules.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump threatened a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne after Macron reportedly declined an invitation to join the US-led Gasa “Board of Peace.”

The French president condemned the “endless accumulation of new tariffs” as “fundamentally unacceptable,” particularly when used as leverage against territorial sovereignty.

A meeting of NATO defence chiefs this week could provide options for the alliance to reinforce security around Greenland, amid Trump’s claims of growing Chinese and Russian military activity around the island.

One issue appears to be the availability of ships and other systems to conduct such an operation. NATO already has several naval groups patrolling the high north and the Arctic, as well as the Baltic and the Mediterranean, leaving limited spare capacity.

Officials and diplomats at NATO headquarters are under strain, a person involved in the talks in recent weeks said, as rhetoric around potential military annexation has intensified. Another source described the situation among allies as “pretty bad,” adding that “there’s not much we can do” given what they described as Trump’s “not rational” behaviour.

NATO currently has 32 member states, with the US one of the 12 founding countries. Designed to safeguard freedom and security through a collective defence, one of the core principles of the NATO alliance is outlined in Article 5, which says that an armed attack against one or more members will be considered an attack against all.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​