Several NATO countries are sending small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to participate in joint exercises with Denmark, as US President Donald Trump steps up threats to forcibly annex the Arctic island.
President Trump’s declaration raised the possibility that NATO’s largest and most powerful member could annex territory from other countries, putting Europe’s decades-old US-led security alliance in jeopardy.
Denmark, which is responsible for defending Greenland, has warned that an attack on Greenland would be tantamount to the end of NATO and announced on Wednesday that it was expanding its military presence “in close cooperation with NATO allies.”
Germany, Sweden, France and Norway then confirmed this week that they would send military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises with the Danish military. Canada and France have also announced plans to open consulates in Greenland’s capital Nuuk in the coming weeks.
It is not uncommon for NATO countries to send troops to train in other NATO countries, and allies including the United States have been pushing for years to step up joint exercises in the Arctic. The United States has about 150 troops stationed at the Pitufik space base in northwestern Greenland.
However, the timing and symbolism of the latest announcements by European countries are both an important show of solidarity at a time of unprecedented tension within NATO.
President Trump has been very vocal about his ambitions to seize control of the world’s largest island, including using force if necessary, saying at a news conference with oil executives on Friday: “We’re going to do something with Greenland whether they like it or not.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Germany’s Defense Ministry said it would send a “reconnaissance team” of 13 military personnel to Greenland on Thursday for an “exploration mission” along with other partner countries at Denmark’s request.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on the 12th that Sweden had also dispatched an unspecified number of troops to Greenland in response to Denmark’s request. He added that Swedish officers will join forces from other allied countries and work together to prepare for an upcoming exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France would also take part in Operation Arctic Endurance. “The first French troops have already left. Others will follow,” he wrote to X.
Norway is sending two defense personnel to Greenland, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense confirmed to CNN.
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a long-standing military alliance between 30 European countries, the United States, and Canada.
It is built on the principle that an attack on any member state must be considered an attack on all member states, which is what makes the US threat to Greenland, which is part of NATO through its alliance with Denmark, so unusual.
Denmark’s defense minister said the possibility of a U.S. attack on Greenland was “completely hypothetical.”
“It is unlikely that a NATO country would attack another NATO country,” Troels Rand Poulsen told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
News of the deployment of European troops to Greenland came hours after President Trump said on Truth Social that less than US control of Greenland was “unacceptable,” as Danish and Greenlandic officials met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance on Wednesday.
“If Greenland were in American hands, NATO would be far more formidable and effective,” President Trump wrote early Wednesday, arguing that U.S. control of Greenland would also benefit NATO.
The talks yielded little tangible results, with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen saying he and his Greenlandic colleagues had “frank and constructive discussions” with Rubio and Vance, but “fundamental differences” remained.
Still, Rasmussen said the parties had agreed to establish a “high-level working group to see if we can find a common way forward” and that a meeting was planned in the coming weeks.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand called the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark on X-Sunday to “reiterate Canada’s firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland.”
Anand said he would travel to Greenland “in the coming weeks” to open Canada’s official consulate in Nuuk and convey Canada’s “deep commitment to regional security and protection” in the Arctic.
According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault said on RTL radio on Wednesday that France plans to open a consulate in Greenland on February 6, after preparations have been underway since last year.
According to Reuters, Barot called on the US to stop threatening Greenland.
“Attacking other NATO members is pointless and may even be against the interests of the United States…Therefore, this threat clearly must stop,” Barot told RTL.
