EU warns of legal, military ramifications over Trump's Greenland ambitions

Amid growing concerns over US President-elect Donald Trump's reported ambitions to annex Greenland, the European Union has expressed strong support for Denmark, which controls the autonomous territory.

Experts highlighted that any attempt by the US to annex Greenland could invoke provisions in the EU's Lisbon Treaty on mutual defence, triggering legal and military obligations for EU member states to assist Denmark, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Under Article 42, Paragraph 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, EU members are bound to provide “aid and assistance by all means possible” to any member state that becomes a victim of armed aggression. This provision, however, has been criticized for lacking tangible military backing, with experts arguing that it is “meaningless in its current form.”

Daniel Fiott is Head of the Defence and Statecraft Programme at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance, warned that while the legal framework exists, the EU's actual capacity to counteract an act of aggression remains unclear.

The article also raised questions about NATO’s response, particularly Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which enshrines collective defence among member states. A situation in which one NATO member, the United States, seeks to annex the territory of another NATO member, Denmark, would represent an unprecedented scenario for the alliance.

Agathe Demarais, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, called the situation “absurd” and expressed uncertainty about how the alliance would react.

While the likelihood of the United States successfully annexing Greenland remains uncertain, the EU's stance underscores the importance of maintaining robust defence mechanisms and international cooperation in the face of potential geopolitical conflicts

By Vafa Guliyeva