🔗 Share this article

Earlier today, a informal Coalition of the Willing, largely composed of EU officials, gathered in the French capital with envoys of President Trump, aiming to secure further advances on a durable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to halt the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", not a single person in that gathering desired to jeopardise retaining the Washington engaged.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that opulent and luxurious gathering, and the underlying atmosphere was profoundly tense.

Recall the developments of the past week: the US administration's divisive involvement in the South American nation and the American leader's assertion following this, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

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

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting opposite two key figures acting for Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over Greenland, lest that impacts US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to separate Greenland and the debate on Ukraine separate. But with the tensions rising from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of leading states at the gathering released a communiqué stating: "This territory is part of NATO. Security in the North must therefore be achieved collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners including the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on affairs concerning the kingdom and Greenland," the statement added.

The communique was greeted by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was tardy to be drafted and, owing to the limited group of signatories to the statement, it did not manage to show a Europe in agreement in purpose.

"Had there been a common statement from all 27 member states, along with NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have conveyed a resounding warning to the US," commented a EU foreign policy expert.

Ponder the contradiction at hand at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other leaders, including NATO and the EU, are attempting to secure the cooperation of the White House in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an foreign power (Moscow), immediately after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also persistently openly challenging the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both participants of the defensive pact the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Danish officials, profoundly close allies. At least, they were.

The question is, should Trump fulfill his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an severe risk to NATO but also a profound challenge for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his resolve to dominate the Arctic island. He's suggested buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

Recently that the landmass is "so strategic right now, it is patrolled by foreign ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to handle it".

Denmark refutes that assertion. It has lately vowed to spend $4bn in the island's defense encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a mutual pact, the US maintains a strategic outpost already on Greenland – founded at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the total of troops there from around 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of neglecting polar defense, until now.

Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a larger US presence on the island and additional measures but faced with the US President's assertion of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be treated with gravity.

After the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her fellow leaders across Europe are doing just that.

"These developments has just highlighted – once again – Europe's fundamental weakness {