More NATO soldiers and more EU money are two measures that have already been raised in Europe to meet US demands to take over Greenland.
American claims that Russian and Chinese ships are allowed to circle freely around the island could, for example, be countered by quickly launching a NATO operation. An Arctic Sentry with ships and aircraft would be equivalent to the already launched Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry, which guard against shadow fleets and drones in the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe.
"Everything that can be done . . . should be maximized," a NATO diplomat told the news site Politico Europe.
Support and trade threat
The EU also has an economic carrot to make the Greenlanders themselves prefer to turn toward Europe.
A doubling of financial support has already been proposed in the next long-term budget. Although Greenland is not formally part of the EU, almost six billion kronor have been allocated for the years 2028–34.
The EU can also use the economy as a whip. The US's renewed talk about Greenland has led members of the European Parliament to demand an immediate freeze on the approval of the trade deal reached between the EU and the US this summer.
The EU can also threaten to use the so-called "trade bazooka" - the EU rules that allow heavy tariffs against countries it considers discriminatory.
Who dares?
The question is also what EU countries dare and really want. French political scientist Marlène Laruelle notes that only a small minority of member states are currently willing to take up arms against the US. The rest are either Trump supporters like Hungary or are sitting around waiting for the Democrats to come back to power in Washington.
"There is an inability to imagine a divorce from the United States. Because it is scary. Because we know that we cannot defend ourselves. Because it will be very difficult economically," Laruelle told the Belgian newspaper Le Soir.
Want to see protests
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin warns that Europe ultimately risks becoming a mere vassal state of the United States. He wants to see broader protests against Trump.
"We have means of pressure, even as ordinary citizens: demonstrations, embargoes, boycotts. The governments of Europe must act, but not only them. Every citizen has a responsibility: it is a duty to say no," de Villepin told Le Soir.
Greenland joined Denmark in the then EC in 1973, but left again in 1985, mainly due to disagreements over fishing rights and seal hunting.
Greenland still receives financial support from the EU, as do some French and Dutch territories outside Europe. The proposal for a new long-term budget for 2028-34 allocates €530 million for Greenland.
“You have stood by us as a friend and a partner and we will not forget it,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen, head of government and seven-time Greenland badminton champion, said in the European Parliament in October last year.
