President Donald Trump is just starting the second week of his second term, and already the Europeans are willing to beef up their own defense and security.
Keep in mind that Greenlanders are expected to vote on independence in the near future. Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede has indicated that an independence referendum could be held as early as April 2025, coinciding with the upcoming general election.
In realpolitik, that means a vast and uninhabited region rich in natural resources and with direct pathways to this country could be laid bare for Chinese investors and Russian interests.
Needless to say, Trump would prefer to offer the Greenlanders a mutually beneficial deal for a strategic partnership of some kind.
However, in doing so, he has managed to create mass hysteria in Europe.
To begin with, France laughably discussed with Denmark about its sending troops to Greenland in response to Trump’s supposed threats to annex the Danish territory.
Asked about calls to send EU troops to Greenland, Barrot said in an interview with France’s Sud Radio that France had “started discussing [troop deployment] with Denmark,” but that it was not “Denmark’s wish” to proceed with the idea.Barrot’s comments came as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was in the middle of a lightning tour of European capitals to drum up support from allies in dealing with Trump….”If Denmark calls for help, France will be there,” he said. “The European borders are sovereign whether it’s north, south, east and west … nobody can allow themselves to mess around with our borders.”
The news was met with much fun analysis on social media.
Now, after years of complaints and ignoring Greenlander requests, Denmark has managed to find a few billion dollars for the Arctic Island’s defense.
Denmark said on Monday it would spend 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.05 billion) boosting its military capabilities in the Arctic – a decision that comes amid continuing furor following US President Donald Trump’s renewed interest in controlling Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.The agreement aims to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region,” according to a statement from Denmark’s Ministry of Defense.“At the same time, support to Allies and NATO’s efforts in the Arctic and North Atlantic is essential to strengthening overall security and defense,” the statement added.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made a whirlwind tour of the European Union to essentially complain about Trump’s not losing interest in the deal (which he will not, given the reasons I cited above).
Over the space of a day, Frederiksen met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Nato leader Mark Rutte in Brussels.Although the leaders were said to have discussed issues including Ukraine and hybrid Russian attacks in the Baltic Sea, the Danish PM’s whirlwind trip betrayed the nervousness felt in Denmark over Trump’s repeated comments.The Arctic island of Greenland is an autonomous Danish dependent territory.However, Trump has repeatedly signalled that he wants the US to acquire it for national security reasons – and refused to rule out using military or economic force to do so. “I think we’re going to have it,” he said on Saturday.
We will see how it all plays out. However, Europe learning it has to actually pay for the security of land it wants control over is already paying dividends.
Meanwhile, back in the states, the harridan that the Great State of Alaska has for US Senator is indulging in her usual Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Murkowski, who has criticized Trump on multiple occasions and voted to convict him on impeachment charges after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack and who last week voted against one of his key Cabinet appointments, is vice chair of the standing committee of the Arctic Parliamentarians forum, while Chemnitz chairs the committee.“Of course a businessman turned president would be interested. But Greenland is not for sale,” Murkowski and Chemnitz said in a statement obtained by POLITICO.“As legislators representing Greenland in Denmark and the United States, we see a better path forward. The United States, like Denmark, should recognize that the future will be defined by partnership, not ownership,” they added.
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