Copenhagen—Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gave a strong warning on Monday that if the U.S. took over Greenland, NATO would come to an end. Her comments came at a time when tensions were rising because U.S. President Donald Trump had recently called for control over the strategically important Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark and a member of NATO.
The U.S. has interests in Greenland for a reason
Greenland, the largest island in the world, is becoming more important strategically because it is in the Arctic and has a lot of minerals. In the last few years, U.S. officials and policymakers have talked about increasing the military and economic presence on the island because of growing competition with Russia and China in the world of geopolitics. President Trump, in particular, had said he wanted to buy Greenland, which many people saw as a provocative move that showed how much the U.S. wanted to be in the Arctic.
The U.S. military's efforts to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Venezuela over the weekend got a lot of attention around the world. Many people were shocked by the secret operation carried out by U.S. forces in Caracas. It raised concerns among both allies and enemies, especially in places like Greenland where the U.S. has military bases.
Frederiksen's Strong Reaction
In an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Prime Minister Frederiksen strongly opposed any U.S. attempts to take Greenland by force or any other means, warning that such a move would have disastrous effects on NATO's unity and security framework. Frederiksen said, "If the United States decides to attack another NATO country with its military, then everything stops." "That includes our NATO alliance and the security guarantees that have been in place since the end of World War II." She stressed how important Greenland's position is in Denmark and NATO, saying that any action taken by the U.S. alone would put the alliance's stability at risk and could lead to a larger security crisis.
Worries About the U.S.'s Plans and Goals
President Trump has said many times that he is interested in Greenland, and his most recent comments have hinted at a possible timeline. "Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days," he said at a press conference over the weekend. This made people worry that the U.S. would try to take over the island again.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen agreed with these worries and stressed that Greenland is not the same as Venezuela or other places where there is fighting. He asked for calm and said that Greenland's sovereignty is still intact. He said, "We are not in a situation where we think the U.S. might conquer Greenland overnight."
Nielsen went on to say, "We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation."
Criticism of the U.S. and its military presence
President Trump also made fun of Denmark's efforts to strengthen Greenland's defenses, saying that the country was "adding one more dog sled" to the Arctic territory's arsenal. He said, "Greenland is so important right now. There are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," even though experts say otherwise.
The U.S. has a large military presence in Greenland, especially at the Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. The base was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations that are very important to NATO's strategic goals.
Concerns about sovereignty and problems with diplomacy
Katie Miller, who used to work for Trump, posted something on social media after the weekend that made things worse. The post had a map of Greenland in the colors of the American flag and the word "SOON" on it. This caused a diplomatic backlash. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's main representative in Washington, said that Denmark is a sovereign country and asked for "full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark."
The alliance between the U.S. and Denmark is still strong, and recent agreements let U.S. troops use Danish bases. Last year, Denmark's parliament passed a law that allowed U.S. military bases to be built on Danish soil. This included the purchase of F-35 fighter jets, which made military cooperation even stronger.
What this means for NATO and Arctic security
Analysts say that if the U.S. tried to take control of Greenland by force, it would be a turning point that could end NATO as we know it. A lot of people are worried that this could break up the alliance, start an arms race in the region, and make Arctic security less stable.
U.S. officials say they are only interested in strategic goals, but critics say that the push for control of Greenland could hurt long-standing diplomatic ties and agreements on sovereignty. Russia and China are already competing for power in the Arctic by expanding their influence through military and business activities.
Denmark's government is still firmly defending Greenland's independence and condemning any aggressive actions by the U.S. as tensions rise. The situation shows how fragile the balance of power is in the Arctic, where strategic interests come into conflict with sovereignty, diplomacy, and security alliances.
In the next few weeks, it will be very important to see if diplomatic channels can ease tensions or if bigger geopolitical conflicts are about to break out over Greenland's future.
