US demand to own Greenland leaves little scope for compromise, and forcing the issue would entail end of Nato
Greenland, with a population of fewer than 57,000, might not seem to be the territory on which the future of the relationship between Europe and the US, the viability of Nato as the world’s most successful defence alliance, or even the fractured relations between the UK and Europe would be determined.
But battlefields are sometimes the product of chance, rather than choice. It now feels as if Donald Trump’s threat to impose 10% tariffs on eight fellow Nato states for sending troops last week to support Greenland’s sovereignty may be one of those clarifying moments in which Europe had no option. Successive European leaders took to social media on Sunday to condemn Trump’s blackmail and intimidation and they sounded as if they meant it.
The chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee, Rasmus Jarlov, can hardly claim to speak for Europe, but he captured a mood in saying: “Every insult, threat, tariff and lie that we receive strengthens our resolve. The answer from Denmark and Greenland is final: We will never hand over Greenland.”
He added: “We pray that our true allies will stand with us because we are going to need it.”
