Those Difficult Issues for NATO and the EU as President Trump Targets Greenland

This very day, a so-called Coalition of the Willing, largely composed of European heads of state, gathered in the French capital with representatives of the Trump administration, attempting to secure more advances on a sustainable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to halt the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that gathering wished to risk retaining the Washington engaged.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that grand and glittering Paris meeting, and the underlying tension was extremely strained.

Consider the events of the recent days: the White House's contentious incursion in Venezuela and the US president's assertion following this, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of national security".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's greatest island – it's six times the size of Germany. It is situated in the far north but is an semi-independent region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was sitting opposite two influential personalities acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European allies to refrain from provoking the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US assistance for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on Ukraine distinct. But with the political temperature mounting from the White House and Denmark, representatives of leading EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a statement stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in partnership with treaty partners such as the US".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and Greenland, and no one else, to rule on issues related to Denmark and its autonomous territory," the declaration continued.

The announcement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics contend it was tardy to be put together and, because of the small set of signatories to the declaration, it did not manage to show a Europe aligned in purpose.

"If there had been a joint position from all 27 European Union countries, along with NATO ally the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's control, that would have conveyed a powerful warning to America," stated a European defense analyst.

Ponder the irony at work at the France meeting. Multiple EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are trying to secure the cooperation of the Trump administration in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist geopolitical designs of an external actor (Russia), on the heels of the US has swooped into independent Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also still openly undermining the autonomy of a different European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both members of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Danish officials, profoundly strong partners. Or were.

The dilemma is, should Trump make good on his goal to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a major challenge for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance Trump has voiced his resolve to control the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

On Sunday that the island is "crucially located right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is incapable to provide security".

Copenhagen refutes that assertion. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in Greenland defence for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a strategic outpost already on the island – established at the onset of the Cold War. It has reduced the total of staff there from around 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking Arctic Security, up to this point.

Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a expanded US footprint on the territory and further cooperation but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

In the wake of the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges in Europe are doing just that.

"The current crisis has just underlined – for the umpteenth time – Europe's basic vulnerability {