Tensions over Greenland are rising after US President Donald Trump threatened his NATO allies with new tariffs over the deployment of troops to the Arctic island. The EU is now considering using its Counter-Coercion Instrument (CPI) in response to US threats, while Denmark and its partners are expanding their military presence in Greenland, writes the European Newsroom – a platform for cooperation between agencies of 23 European countries, including BTA.
European Union countries are rushing to find a joint response to US President Trump's threats to impose additional 10 percent tariffs on goods from several European allies, effective February 1. EU leaders will meet in Brussels tomorrow after Trump threatened to impose higher tariffs on eight European countries until the United States secures his announced "full and total purchase" of Greenland.
The United States has repeatedly said it wants the mineral-rich autonomous Danish territory of Greenland for "national security" reasons, even though it already has a base on the island and long-standing security arrangements with NATO ally Denmark, which has controlled the Arctic island for about 300 years. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain recently sent small military personnel on a reconnaissance mission to Greenland in solidarity with Denmark, which opposes Trump's expansionist ambitions.
“We will not be blackmailed and we stand together in European solidarity“, said German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, arriving in Brussels on Monday for a pre-planned two-day meeting with his EU counterparts. “We do not want an escalation of tensions. We are not looking for one, but we are ready if it comes to that,” Klingbeil said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - considered one of Trump's few allies in the EU - called it “a mistake” the new threat of tariffs.
In another ominous scenario, Trump on Tuesday also stepped up his rhetoric against France, warning that he would impose a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne over Paris's refusal to invite him to join his "Peace Council" set up to oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
French President Emmanuel Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday: "What doesn't make sense is to have tariffs between allies. We have to find a way out of the war in Ukraine, we have to help the Ukrainians in their resistance and in reaching a sustainable peace." Macron called the potential activation of the Anti-Coercive Instrument against the United States "madness" and added: "I regret it." But it is simply a consequence of unpredictability and useless aggression.“
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned Trump not to send transatlantic relations into a dangerous downward spiral over Greenland. “That is why the proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially when they concern long-standing allies,“ she said in Davos.
Washington's turmoil is a test for the transatlantic alliance and the post-World War II order
The leader of the international human rights organization “Amnesty International“ Agnes Callamard called on European countries on Monday to stop “appeasing“ Trump and to confront him and other "bullies" who she says are determined to destroy the rules-based order that has existed since World War II.
Since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, he has taken "a series of decisions that have led to the end of many rules around the world," while Russia has been destroying the system "through its aggression in Ukraine," the human rights group's secretary-general told AFP in an interview in Davos. The post-World War II order "is also being destroyed by Israel, which completely disregards international law in its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," she added.
European powers have also been walking on thin ice in recent months over Ukraine, relying on Washington to try to help resolve the conflict but resisting terms that are too favorable to Moscow. Meanwhile, Trump has tested the transatlantic alliance with threats to take over Greenland “one way or another” as European countries unite against Washington’s plans for the vast Danish autonomous territory.
In a message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the US president said: “I no longer feel obliged to think only about peace,” referring to the fact that he did not receive last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, despite openly wanting it. He said that while peace would still be “a priority,” he “can now think about what is good and right for the United States of America.” "I have made it clear, including to President Trump, what is well known - the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel committee," Støre said.
NATO strengthens presence in Greenland in the context of the pursuit of unity
Amid global tensions, Denmark is proposing that NATO start monitoring operations in Greenland with the support of the authorities on the Arctic island, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Monday after meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The exact details of the proposal and Rutte's response remain unknown. While a number of NATO allies have sent troops to Greenland or announced plans to do so despite the risk of additional US tariffs, others are reluctant and remain divided on the decision.
Belgium is sending a logistics officer to Greenland. Despite the decision, the country was not included on the list of countries sanctioned by Trump on Saturday. "However, there is no guarantee that this will not happen in the future, and we must show solidarity with our colleagues," said Foreign Minister Maxime Prevost. He called the US measures "incomprehensible and unnecessarily hostile."
Slovenia announced on Saturday that it would send two officers from its armed forces to Greenland to participate in the planning and conduct of the international military exercise "Arctic Endurance" led by Denmark.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk - whose country is a staunch NATO ally with the highest defense spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) - already said last week that the country “has no plans to send troops to Greenland“.
Contrary to unsubstantiated claims on social media that Germany has sent warships to Greenland, the country has deployed 15 soldiers to the island for a reconnaissance mission. However, the troops left Greenland on Sunday after the mission ended as scheduled, the German Defense Ministry said.
Spain has not announced plans to participate in the Greenland mission. However, Defense Minister Margarita Robles recently said that the country could join the group in the future.
Meanwhile, some NATO allies are still adjusting to the development of the Greenland dispute in their domestic political debates. Asked on Monday whether the Czech government supports Greenland, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said he could not give a clear answer. He added that the United States is the leader of NATO and that conflicts are counterproductive. "We definitely prefer to reach an agreement within the alliance. It would be a great pity if there were any conflicts," Babis said.
In Bulgaria, political reactions are mixed. The outgoing government has not come out with a position on the recent events surrounding Greenland, but reactions have begun to emerge from parliament.
On the one hand, the leader of the "Continuing Change" party, a party affiliated at the European Parliament level with the "Renew Europe" group, Assen Vassilev, said that each country should have the right to determine its own future, instead of having its choices dictated by external forces.
On the other hand, the "Vazrazhdane" party, whose MEPs are part of the "Europe of Sovereign Nations" group in the European Parliament, supports the US claims to Greenland. Party leader Kostadin Kostadinov reiterated the party's call for Bulgaria to withdraw from NATO and said that tensions between Washington and Copenhagen reveal deeper structural problems in both NATO and the European Union.
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said that “Slovakia considers Greenland to be part of Denmark“. He rejected the option of tariff battles between the countries: “We prefer diplomacy and peace, not tension or fighting”, he said.
The EU's "trade bazooka" is on standby
EU leaders will meet in Brussels tomorrow to discuss a coordinated response to the prospect of US tariffs - with the most powerful trade tool on the table.
The EU's strongest economic response tool - the so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument - a mechanism adopted in 2023, can be used in cases of economic coercion when a non-EU country tries to put pressure on the bloc or one of its 27 member states through trade restrictions.
Such practices "unduly interfere with the legitimate sovereign choices of the European Union and its member states," the European Commission's website says. France signaled its intention to request the instrument to be activated after Trump announced on Saturday that he would impose additional tariffs on eight NATO allies.
To apply the instrument, the European Commission must first examine whether there is economic coercion in the case. EU countries must then support the Commission's conclusion, before the EU's executive branch ideally starts negotiations with the country in question. If these fail, the EU can impose countermeasures.
However, retaliatory actions under the IPA are only a last resort and must be proportionate. Using it against the United States would be the "first time" the EU has used this instrument, Macron said in Davos on Tuesday.
If the IPA is applied in response to Trump's latest trade threats, it is likely to lead to retaliatory tariffs on imports of American goods. The EU-US tariff deal reached in July could also be delayed.
Additional tariffs on goods worth 93 billion euros ($108 billion) are also being discussed, including industrial products and agricultural goods such as motorcycles, beef, whisky and citrus fruits.