NATO capable of safeguarding Greenland, says EU’s foreign policy chief

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has said that NATO is fully capable of addressing any security concerns related to Greenland, underscoring the alliance’s role in maintaining stability in the strategically vital Arctic region.

“Greenland belongs to its citizens. If there are concerns about the island’s security, NATO is capable of dispelling them,” Kallas told the German newspaper Welt.

She drew attention to Greenland’s growing strategic significance, noting the presence of critical undersea communication cables in nearby waters and the substantial deposits of rare earth elements believed to lie beneath the island’s ice sheet.

Kallas also reaffirmed that the United States remains the European Union’s most important ally, while candidly acknowledging that transatlantic relations are currently passing through what she described as a “difficult phase.”

The US president Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland is vital to US national security, claiming without evidence that it was "covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place".

Trump noted that the US needs to "own" Greenland to prevent Russia and China from doing so.

"Countries have to have ownership and you defend ownership, you don't defend leases. And we'll have to defend Greenland," Trump said.

The US will do it "the easy way" or "the hard way", he added. The White House recently said the administration was considering buying the semi-autonomous territory of fellow NATO member Denmark, but it would not rule out the option of annexing it by force.

Denmark and Greenland say the territory is not for sale. Denmark has said military action would spell the end of the trans-Atlantic defence alliance.

Greenland's party leaders, including the opposition, reiterated their call for the "US's disregard for our country to end" in a joint statement.

"We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders," they said. "The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people."

Despite being the most sparsely populated territory, Greenland's location between North America and the Arctic makes it well placed for early warning systems in the event of missile attacks, and for monitoring vessels in the region.

By Vafa Guliyeva