European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen landed in Greenland this Sunday to bring the European voice to the island after months in which U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted on annexing it to his country since the start of his second term. “It should be under U.S. control, not Denmark’s,” the magnate insisted in July from the presidential palace of Recep T. Erdogan in Turkey, on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
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The community leader will sign a joint declaration between the EU and the Danish autonomous territory this Monday, which could include another 200 million euros in funding as part of Brussels’ message of seduction to the Greenlanders.
The community leader will sign a joint declaration between the EU and the Danish autonomous territory this Monday
“The last time I was here was two years ago and, on that occasion, I promised I would return with a substantial package of measures. And today I can say that I am going to fulfill that promise,” the German conservative said upon her arrival this Sunday.
Her visit comes at a good time. It coincides with the start of NATO exercises in Greenland, part of the Atlantic Alliance’s efforts to convince Washington that it is protected. Four hundred soldiers from eleven Atlantic Alliance countries, including Denmark, France, and Germany, will participate, training jointly on land, sea, and air in southern Greenland and also in the western fjords, as part of Operation Arctic Sentinel to strengthen control in this critical global area.
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When Von der Leyen last visited Nuuk, she signed two other cooperation agreements worth nearly 100 million euros, but much has changed in the last two years. Especially for the island, Trump’s insistence on annexing Greenland to the United States during his second term, threats he repeated again at the last NATO leaders’ summit in July, even though the situation is currently being discreetly negotiated by a working group made up of U.S., Greenlandic, and Danish representatives who must continue negotiating until the end of the year.
The message Von der Leyen will convey this Monday is clear, amid visits to icebergs and meetings with representatives of the Greenlandic government. “We are a family,” she said upon stepping off the plane. “What happens in the Arctic directly affects the rest of Europe, and a strong partnership with Greenland is crucial for our position in the region,” she emphasized.
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