With la rentrée in full swing in Brussels, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will begin her week in Greenland, where she is expected to announce a new €200m funding package on Monday (7 September).
The visit follows weeks of tension earlier this year linked to repeated demands by US president Donald Trump to buy and gain control of Greenland.
And while a deal was announced by Nato chief Mark Rutte in June to “take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic“, von der Leyen’s visit is a clear signal to Washington that the EU intends to stay involved in Arctic affairs as it can: with investment and offering Nuuk long-term economic partnership.
In the run-up to next week’s state of the union address (SOTEU), expected to cover everything from the EU’s new security strategy and migration to social media restrictions for children and climate, von der Leyen is also meeting with political groups in Brussels this week.
In EU jargon, that is the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (the parliament president Roberta Metsola and political group leaders), who will meet von der Leyen on Wednesday (9 September).