EU backs Greenland’s sovereignty after Trump threat
BRUSSELS – We have heard this before, we stand by what we have said about this earlier,” said a spokesperson for the European Commission.
As far as the Commission is concerned, Greenland is an “autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark,” the spokesperson stated. Any change in that is up to the Greenlanders themselves, according to the spokeswoman.
The Greenlandic prime minister Jens Frederik Nielsen, elected last year, is furious and wants Trump to stop the threats. The Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen calls it “absurd” that the US should take over power in Greenland.
The spokesperson calls Trump’s threat regarding Greenland incomparable to the situation in Venezuela. “The EU and therefore Greenland are in fact an ally of the United States,” she says.
From various European countries similar criticism can be heard of Trump’s words. “Let me be very clear about Greenland, the future of Greenland is for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark,” said the British prime minister Keir Starmer to Sky News.
A spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on TV channel TF1 that France stands in solidarity with Denmark. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the Danes and it is up to them to decide what they want to do with it.”
The German foreign minister Johan Wadephul said Monday that Greenland belongs to Denmark, and that if necessary NATO can discuss stepping up the protection of the island.
(5 January 2026)
