COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday warned that a United States takeover of Greenland would effectively mark the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), responding sharply to renewed calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for Washington to assert control over the strategic Arctic island.
Frederiksen’s remarks followed a weekend U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, an action that stunned the international community and heightened anxiety in Denmark and Greenland. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and, by extension, part of the NATO alliance.
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”
Frederiksen and Greenland’s prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, both condemned Trump’s comments and warned of far-reaching consequences, drawing expressions of solidarity from several European leaders.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of bringing mineral-rich Greenland under U.S. jurisdiction during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term, and has not ruled out the use of military force. His comments on Sunday, including telling reporters, “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” further fueled concerns in Copenhagen and Nuuk that Washington could be considering a near-term intervention.
Frederiksen said Trump “should be taken seriously” when he speaks about Greenland. “We will not accept a situation where we and Greenland are threatened in this way,” she added.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Nielsen urged Greenlanders to remain calm and united, stressing that the territory’s situation cannot be compared to Venezuela’s.
“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,” Nielsen said, adding: “The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland.”
TV2 political journalist Ask Rostrup noted in a live blog that Frederiksen would previously have dismissed outright the idea of a U.S. takeover of Greenland. However, Rostrup wrote that escalating rhetoric has now forced Danish leaders to acknowledge the possibility.
Trump also mocked Denmark’s efforts to bolster Greenland’s security, saying the country had added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s defenses. Speaking to reporters as he returned to Washington from Florida, Trump said, “It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he added.
However, Ulrik Pram Gad, a global security expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, countered those claims in a report last year, writing that while Russian and Chinese vessels do operate in the Arctic, “these vessels are too far away to see from Greenland with or without binoculars.”
Tensions were further inflamed over the weekend by a social media post from Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, who shared an illustrated map of Greenland colored like the U.S. flag with the caption: “SOON.”
Denmark’s ambassador to Washington, Jesper Møller Sørensen, responded by emphasizing Denmark’s sovereignty. “And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he wrote.
The United States already maintains a military presence in Greenland through the Pituffik Space Base in the island’s northwest, established under a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the U.S. The base supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for both the U.S. and NATO.
On Denmark’s mainland, defense ties with Washington remain strong. Denmark purchases U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, and last year its parliament approved legislation allowing U.S. military bases on Danish soil. Critics argue the move weakened Danish sovereignty, expanding a 2023 agreement under which U.S. forces were granted broad access to Danish air bases.
Despite longstanding cooperation, Frederiksen’s warning underscored growing unease in Europe over Washington’s rhetoric and its implications for NATO unity and the postwar security order.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
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