The White House confirmed on Tuesday that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has rekindled his interest in acquiring Greenland and is not ruling out any options, including military ones, to ensure control of the island.
The presidential spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, stated that the "acquisition of Greenland is a national security priority" and that Washington aims to "protect its strategic interests in the Arctic against its adversaries."
The announcement comes just days after the military operation in which the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, was captured, and it has raised alarms in Europe.
Trump believes that the territory—administered by Denmark and with significant internal autonomy—is crucial for the defense and natural resources of the United States. “We will take care of Greenland in two months. Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days,” said the president when asked about the issue.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, confirmed to a group of lawmakers that Trump "would be willing to buy Greenland," and indicated that his team is preparing a plan to evaluate the diplomatic and economic avenues for that acquisition. However, the possibility has sparked a strong response from the European bloc.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Denmark issued a joint statement in which they reminded that "security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively, in coordination with NATO allies, and by respecting the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders."
The statement concluded with a straightforward sentence: “Greenland belongs to its people. Only Denmark and Greenland can decide about its future.”
On his part, the president of the Greenlandic autonomous government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged to avoid panic and expressed openness to strengthening ties with Washington, but warned that “the sovereignty of Greenland is not for sale.”
Greenland, with barely 57,000 inhabitants and an economy dependent on fishing and Danish aid, thus returns to the center of a geopolitical dispute between Washington and Europe over the strategic control of the Arctic.
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