Military of 7 Nato countries in Greenland. US, will not affect Trump decision

For today, 15 January, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened a confidential summit with leading ministers in the Chancellery building in Berlin, dedicated to German and international security issues. This was reported by the Bild, citing security sources. According to the newspaper, no formal agenda has been set, but among the dossiers at the centre of the discussion are the US plans on Greenland and the possible participation of the Bundeswehr, security guarantees for Ukraine, the situation in Iran and the planned visit of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Scharaa to Berlin in the coming days.

The Holland also joined the Greenland mission this afternoon by sending a Royal Navy officer. This was announced by Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans. Ditto Finland, which will send two military liaison officers to Greenland to assess possible training activities, joining the Danish-led European reconnaissance mission. This was announced by the Ministry of Defence in Helsinki.

An extension to Spain cannot be excluded, as Iberian Defence Minister Margarita Robles told reporters upon her arrival at the Congress of Deputies.

The mission takes place on invitation and under the leadership of Denmark. No specific operational contributions are planned at this stage: the aim is to collect preliminary assessments of the safety and operational conditions on the ground, with a view to possible future training or deployment activities. The information gathered, the German Ministry of Defence explained, will serve as a basis for further consultations and planning within NATO, in the context of increasing tensions in the Arctic related to the activities of Russia and China.

The Italian Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto, on the other hand, distances himself from this sending of soldiers to Greenland, calling instead for NATO to coordinate all operations. "What do one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred soldiers of any nationality do? It sounds like the beginning of a joke. This is not a competition of who sends the soldiers around the world. You have to unite and not divide'.

Il ministro degli Esteri danese Lars Lokke Rasmussen (a sinistra) e il ministro degli Esteri della Groenlandia Vivian Motzfeldt all'ambasciata danese a Washington, DC, USA, il 14 gennaio 2026 (Epa/Shawn Thew)

The Danish foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, recalled on Facebook the kingdom's position afteryesterday's meeting in Washington between American, Danish and Greenlandic diplomats, which ended with the realisation of a 'fundamental disagreement'. "The US position is that they must take control of Greenland. We continue to believe that long-term security can be ensured by respecting the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right to self-determination of the Greenlandic people. We respect international law and the UN Charter. This is our red line,' he said, before adding: 'This is 2026, you can trade with people, but you cannot trade with people'.

US territorial ambitions regarding the Arctic island remain 'unchanged', confirmed Danish premier Mette Frederiksen explaining that 'there is still fundamental disagreement' after the meetings in Washington. ''There is a fundamental disagreement, because the American ambition to conquer Greenland remains intact. This is obviously a serious matter and we therefore continue our efforts to prevent this scenario from becoming a reality,' Frederiksen said in a note.

In this scenario, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ruled out the possibility that Trump might resort to force to control Greenland. "I don't think this is the choice on the horizon," he stressed, commenting on the stalemate in talks between the US and Denmark on Greenland. "We believe," he added, "that dialogue should always prevail. Even with Canada there seemed to be an irremediable rift. Let us bear in mind that we are all in NATO: Europe, Greenland, which is not part of the European Union but is like Canada, is not part of the European Union and has its own government. I believe that a solution can be found through dialogue and confrontation'.

Meanwhile, rumours are leaking out about the climate of the Washington talks, which is far from positive according to the European delegation. "Vance hates us," one European diplomat told Politico newspaper, commenting on the meeting. According to diplomatic sources heard by Politico, the main obstacle in the dialogue between the United States and the European Union is the fact that US Vice President JD Vance has a deep resentment towards the Old Continent. The announcement that the vice-president would lead the Washington talks on Greenland alarmed the European side. 'He's the hard man,' said the same diplomat, adding that 'the fact that he's there speaks volumes and I think it's bad for the outcome'.

Among the concrete results of the summit, the Financial Times records the establishment of a high-level group with the participation of the United States, Denmark and Greenland to discuss the future of the Arctic island.

But how does US public opinion feel about this? Three quarters of Americans say they oppose an attempt to take control of Greenland, indicating that President Donald Trump's push to expand America's territory is meeting with strong public resistance. These are the results of a new poll by US broadcaster CNN, which shows that only 25 per cent of citizens are in favour of taking control of the Danish Crown's autonomous territory. "Even the president's supporters are almost evenly divided, with 50 per cent of Republicans and Republican-area independents saying they support it and 50 per cent saying they oppose it," while Democrats and Democratic-area independents "are deeply opposed to the move, with 94 per cent opposed overall, including 80 per cent who say they strongly oppose it." The idea does not convince even independents, who express no preference for either party: about 8 out of 10 are against it. The poll also notes little interest in a broader US policy of expansionism, at a time when Trump is celebrating the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Máduro and threatening to take action against Iran over its violent suppression of street protests. "Almost six in ten Americans fear that Trump has gone too far in trying to expand America's power over other countries. Only a third think his efforts to do so have been adequate. And most (55 per cent) say the president has already gone too far in using the US military to achieve his goals', with a growing share (57 per cent now versus 53 per cent last summer) saying that Trump's foreign policy decisions in this term have hurt the US's standing in the world.

The European Union will continue its work to improve the security of the Arctic region, together with the US. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this in Limassol, Cyprus, where she is visiting for the start of the Cypriot presidency. "The EU office in Greenland," she reiterated, "ensures close cooperation with the Greenlandic government and people. We are discussing investments and now we are doubling them. The EU has a very good reputation in Greenland: we rely very much on the excellent cooperation we have. We will therefore continue our work on Arctic security with our allies and partners, including the United States,' he concluded.

'The situation developing in the high latitudes is a matter of utmost concern for us'. This is the response of the Russian Embassy in Belgium to a question from the Russian newspaper Izvestia regarding NATO's policy on Greenland and the Arctic in general. "Instead of constructive work within the existing specialised institutions, primarily the Arctic Council, NATO has embarked on a path of accelerated militarisation of the North, increasing its military presence under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing," reads the comment, taken up by the press office.

"A possible next step" to the Danish-led allied reconnaissance mission for the future military exercise in Greenland "is a larger NATO deployment, Arctic Sentry, which will be further discussed within NATO in the coming period. The Dutch government is positive about this'. This was announced by the Dutch Defence Minister, Ruben Brekelmans, by posting a note on social media.