Denmark and Greenland have sought talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the Trump administration again asserted its desire to take control of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory of strategic importance in the Arctic.
The move comes amid rising tensions after the White House said this week that the use of the US military “is always an option,” prompting strong pushback from European leaders who rejected President Donald Trump’s renewed calls for a US takeover of the island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned earlier that any attempt by the United States to take over Greenland would effectively signal the collapse of the NATO military alliance.
“The Nordics do not make such statements lightly,” said Maria Martisiute, a defence analyst at the European Policy Centre. She said Trump’s forceful language, which she described as bordering on intimidation, was unprecedented between NATO allies.
Leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined Frederiksen in a joint statement on Tuesday, stressing that Greenland “belongs to its people” and reaffirming the island’s sovereignty. Greenland is a self-governing territory under Denmark and therefore part of NATO.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of acquiring Greenland since his first term, arguing that control over the world’s largest island is vital for US security, particularly as China and Russia expand their presence in the Arctic.
Recent US military action in Venezuela has intensified concern across Europe, while Trump and his advisers have in recent days reiterated the president’s interest in Greenland, which sits at a key strategic point guarding Arctic and North Atlantic access to North America.
“It’s so strategic right now,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
According to a statement posted on Greenland’s government website, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt have formally requested a meeting with Rubio in the near future. The statement said earlier attempts to arrange such a meeting were unsuccessful.
While most Republican lawmakers have backed Trump’s stance, US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, the Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, criticised the president’s remarks.
They said the United States must respect Denmark’s sovereignty and honour its treaty obligations, warning that any attempt to pressure a fellow NATO ally would undermine the alliance’s core principles of self-determination.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he discussed the issue by phone with Rubio on Tuesday, adding that the US secretary of state dismissed any suggestion of a Venezuela-style operation in Greenland.
“There is strong support in the United States for NATO,” Barrot said, noting that such membership would be jeopardised by any aggressive move against another alliance member.
Asked whether France has contingency plans if Trump pursues control of Greenland, Barrot said he would not engage in what he called “fiction diplomacy.”