The Difficult Queries for NATO and the European Union as President Trump Threatens the Arctic Island

Just this morning, a so-called Coalition of the Willing, predominantly consisting of European officials, met in Paris with envoys of President Trump, hoping to make further headway on a durable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to end the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", no-one in that meeting wished to jeopardise keeping the US engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal unspoken issue in that opulent and sparkling Paris meeting, and the prevailing mood was extremely strained.

Consider the developments of the last few days: the US administration's contentious intervention in Venezuela and the American leader's assertion following this, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an semi-independent region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting across from two key figures acting for Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU allies not to provoking the US over Greenland, for fear that that impacts US assistance for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have greatly desired to separate the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine separate. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from Washington and Denmark, representatives of big EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a declaration saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, in cooperation with alliance members like the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on affairs regarding Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué continued.

The announcement was received positively by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was tardy to be put together and, because of the limited number of supporters to the statement, it was unable to demonstrate a European Union aligned in purpose.

"Had there been a joint position from all 27 member states, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's authority, that would have delivered a strong warning to Washington," stated a European foreign policy specialist.

Ponder the paradox at play at the Paris summit. Multiple European government and other officials, including NATO and the European Union, are attempting to engage the White House in safeguarding the future autonomy of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also still actively threatening the sovereignty of a further EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it represent not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has spoken of his intention to dominate Greenland. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of taking it by force.

Recently that the territory is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign naval assets all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is incapable to do it".

Copenhagen strongly denies that assertion. It recently committed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a treaty, the US has a strategic outpost already on the island – established at the start of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the number of staff there from around 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has long been accused of taking its eye off the northern theater, until now.

Denmark has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US role on the territory and additional measures but in light of the US President's threat of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to acquire Greenland should be taken seriously.

Following the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders throughout Europe are taking it seriously.

"These developments has just underlined – once again – Europe's fundamental shortcoming {