The Government of Greenland issued a statement this Monday in which it asked NATO to be in charge of the defense of the island, which is an autonomous Danish territory, after Donald Trump’s statements in recent weeks about a possible annexation.
“Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is, as part of the Commonwealth of the Kingdom, a member of NATO, therefore the defense of Greenland must occur through the Alliance,” says the statement from the Greenlandic Government, which also alludes to the defense promoted last week by Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland as members of the Alliance.
“All NATO members, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of Greenland and the Greenland Government Coalition wants, together with Denmark, for the dialogue on defense and its development to take place through collaboration in the Alliance,” the statement explains.
A meeting is expected to take place this week between the Danish Foreign Minister, the Greenland Foreign Minister, and the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to discuss North American ambitions on the island.
And in recent weeks Donald Trump has publicly reaffirmed on different occasions that the United States must take control of Greenland to prevent Russia or China from gaining influence in the Arctic. Although he has insisted that he prefers the diplomatic route, Trump has not ruled out a military attack, an option that has gained strength after the action in Venezuela to capture Nicolás Maduro.
Trump’s main argument for taking control of the island is that Russia and China have “destroyers and submarines everywhere” and he described the Danish defense as “two dog sleds.”
In recent days, furthermore, discussions have begun on a possible NATO mission to “make sure that the Arctic remains safe, since we all agree that this has to be a priority,” as Mark Rutte, Secretary General of the Alliance, explained this Monday.
“If there are currently elements or situations around Greenland or the Arctic that could put Atlantic security at risk, I am sure that we could all analyze it and if security needs to be reinforced, it would be reinforced,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, also expressed this Monday.
