Bloomberg: Europe could yield Greenland to US

There is a growing risk that European leaders could agree to hand over Greenland to the United States in an effort to placate Washington, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The media company cited a senior official attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, who said some in Europe believe the post–Second World War global order has effectively come to an end.

The source warned that a potential territorial grab by US President Donald Trump would represent a fundamental shift in world politics, raising concerns that European leaders might agree to cede Greenland “in yet another attempt to appease the White House”.

Bloomberg reports that European officials have been taken aback by what they describe as a sudden withdrawal of US support, as well as the rapid shift in Washington’s stance from cooperative to openly confrontational.

Some officials told the agency they were struggling to respond to what they described as a barrage of unpredictable and often illogical demands and threats from the US administration.

The renewed pressure on Denmark to relinquish Greenland, coupled with fresh tariff threats and US efforts to establish a global security forum to rival the United Nations, has come at a particularly fragile moment for Europe, Bloomberg notes.

The European Union remains divided over the war in Ukraine, while also grappling with economic pressures and growing doubts over the reliability of long-standing US security guarantees that have underpinned the bloc for decades.

According to the report, there is an increasing sense among European officials that events are “slipping out of control”, as relations with Washington deteriorate into what could become a far more hostile phase.

President Trump has repeatedly argued that Greenland should become part of the United States. During his first term in office, he suggested buying the island, and in March 2025, said he believed it could be annexed.

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Under a 1951 defence agreement, signed alongside NATO commitments, the United States is responsible for defending the island against external threats.

By Aghakazim Guliyev