🔗 Share this article

Just this morning, a informal Group of the Willing, predominantly made up of EU leaders, gathered in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, aiming to make more headway on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a framework to halt the war with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that meeting desired to jeopardise retaining the Washington onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that opulent and luxurious gathering, and the prevailing tension was extremely strained.

Consider the actions of the past week: the White House's contentious incursion in Venezuela and the President Trump's insistence shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of national security".

This massive island is the world's largest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was seated across from two powerful personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU colleagues not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that undermines US assistance for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have much rather to keep the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war distinct. But with the tensions rising from the White House and Denmark, leaders of big European nations at the talks released a declaration asserting: "The island is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, in conjunction with treaty partners including the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and no one else, to rule on issues concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the statement continued.

The statement was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts contend it was slow to be drafted and, because of the small group of endorsers to the declaration, it did not manage to show a Europe in agreement in intent.

"Were there a common statement from all 27 member states, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in support of Copenhagen's authority, that would have conveyed a strong message to Washington," stated a EU defense analyst.

Reflect on the paradox at play at the Paris summit. Numerous EU national and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the US administration in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist land claims of an outside force (Russia), immediately after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also persistently openly challenging the autonomy of another European nation (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the defensive pact NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, profoundly strong partners. At least, they were.

The dilemma is, if Trump were to make good on his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound challenge for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance Trump has spoken of his resolve to control the Arctic island. He's proposed purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of forcible annexation.

He insisted that the landmass is "crucially located right now, it is frequented by foreign naval assets all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of defense and Copenhagen is unable to provide security".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It recently vowed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense for boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a defense installation already on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the Cold War. It has scaled down the total of personnel there from about 10,000 during the height of that era to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off Arctic Security, recently.

Denmark has signaled it is willing to talk about a bigger US presence on the territory and further cooperation but in light of the US President's threat of independent moves, 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 weekend, her colleges throughout Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just emphasized – yet again – Europe's core shortcoming {