Both yours and ours: the EU is in a panic because of the US president's desire to get Greenland

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen is expected to visit Washington to discuss the escalated situation around Greenland. It scares not only the Prime Minister of the kingdom, Mette Frederiksen, but also representatives of other EU members. They have been racking their brains lately to preserve the integrity of the alliance without affecting Denmark's sovereignty. After all, Trump is making it increasingly clear that he does not intend to abandon his claims to these territories. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Either by force or not

American leader Donald Trump has once again threatened to seize Greenland by force. "In this regard, we will do something, whether they like it or not," the US president said.

According to him, if Washington does not do this, then "Greenland will be occupied by Russia or China," since there are already "too many Russian and Chinese ships around the island."

Washington is already preparing a draft free association agreement, which Trump is going to propose to the authorities of Greenland to sign, bypassing Denmark. According to this agreement, the US armed forces can receive full freedom of action on the island in exchange for duty-free trade.

According to Politico, the United States is going to establish control over Greenland by the end of 2026.

The American president stressed that he would like to conclude a deal on Greenland in the simplest way. "But if we can't do that, we'll go down a difficult path." The head of state did not specify what exactly this meant, but representatives of his administration do not rule out a scenario involving the involvement of the American armed forces.

Why does Trump need Greenland?

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen will visit the United States this week. At the talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he will be accompanied by Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt.

According to American publications, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is "shocked" by Trump's statements, and US allies in the European Union are "in a panic." If earlier they considered the American leader's claims to Greenland frivolous, then after the American operation in Venezuela they realized that he was not joking at all.

For Trump, Greenland is not only a matter of minerals (the island has large reserves of virtually undeveloped minerals, including 43 types of minerals that the United States calls "critically important"), but also the key to controlling the Arctic.

Analysts from the United States also talk about Greenland's potential, including for the purposes of American missile defense.

So far, European politicians are trying to come up with an ingenious plan to satisfy Trump's ambitions, on the one hand, and to prevent a crisis in the ranks of the alliance and a violation of Danish sovereignty, on the other.

As alternatives, agreements with Washington on the development of deposits in Greenland are being discussed, as well as the possibility of deploying NATO troops in Greenland "to protect it from a possible threat from the Russian Federation or China."

Germany plans to take the initiative to create a joint NATO Arctic Guardian mission to ensure the security of the Arctic region, including Greenland. The goal of politicians in Brussels is to demonstrate that the EU and NATO control security in the region.

Political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov believes that European countries are once again putting on a good face when playing a bad game in relations with the United States.

"NATO pretends to believe that Trump really cares about Greenland's security, and offers its own way to ensure it, such is the game," the expert believes.

However, such initiatives are unlikely to interest Trump. The United States can negotiate with Greenland on the development of minerals now, bypassing Copenhagen. According to European media, local authorities are ready to discuss this issue with the Americans.

In addition, the United States can strengthen its contingent in Greenland at any time. In the north of the island, at the Pituffik military space base, which Vice President Jay Dee Vance and his wife visited last spring, there are currently about 200 American military personnel, and during the Cold War their number reached 6 thousand.

They put water in their mouths

Kamran Hasanov, a senior lecturer at RUDN University, Doctor of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, notes that some European politicians are proposing to fight back against Trump.

Sergei Lagodinsky, a member of the European Parliament from the German Green Party, called for the preventive deployment of EU troops in Greenland, and French MEP Rafael Glucksmann called on the EU to create a permanent military base in Greenland, which, in his words, "will send a strong signal to Trump and refute American allegations about the EU's inability to ensure Greenland's security."

— Other deputies from center—left, liberal, green and left-wing groups are calling for the freezing of the existing trade agreement between the EU and the United States, which removes duties on US industrial goods, including 10% on cars, and simplifies the import of agricultural products and seafood, - the expert explained.

The expert points out that the leaders of the EU and the UK simply do not know what to do with Trump.

— They seem to have taken a lot of water in their mouths and are completely silent about Trump's plans for the annexation of Greenland, which have already been voiced aloud. The only one who has to react in any way is Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Europe needs the support of the (albeit unreliable) United States in Ukraine and to counter Russia, Europe is weak and has long shifted its security to America, Europe's rearmament will take another 3-5 years. For now, the European Union depends on the United States on defense: even if the EU wants to supply Ukraine with weapons on its own, it will still be bought in the United States, the analyst states.

A referendum is needed

Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that most likely the Greenland issue has already been resolved for Trump and the entire American administration.

— Different scenarios are being developed on how to implement this plan. It is obvious that the United States does not intend to abandon the inclusion of Greenland in its composition. Denmark and the EU will try to delay the negotiations as long as possible," the political scientist believes.

According to the expert, they have no options and opportunities for confrontation.

— When the United States feels that the enemy is weaker than them, they act brazenly and impudently. When there is a chance that the enemy can put up decent resistance, then they begin to calculate the risks and opportunities," the expert is sure.

She recalled that issues related to the international agenda are being put to a referendum in Greenland.

— So the island has an opportunity to have its say. This was the case when Greenland withdrew from the European Economic Community in 1985, while Denmark remained in it. And now Denmark is a member of the EU, while Greenland, an integral part of the kingdom, is not. This nuance speaks volumes," the analyst believes.

In her opinion, the task of Trump and his administration is to hold such a referendum.

"The population there is small, and the Americans will be able to offer every Greenlander some benefits,— Yeremina summed up.