\n On Monday, September 7, she is expected to sign a joint declaration between the European Union and Greenland.\n <\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is arriving in Greenland on September 6 for a two-day visit aimed at reaffirming the European Union\u2019s support for the autonomous territory of Denmark, which has attracted the interest of U.S. President Donald Trump, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
On Monday, September 7, she is expected to sign a joint declaration between the European Union and Greenland.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenland is becoming increasingly important to the EU as a gateway to the Arctic because of its geopolitical location, critical raw materials, and its role in Arctic security,\u201d Mark Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defense College, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Trump categorically stated that Washington must establish control over the vast Arctic island for national security reasons, although he subsequently ruled out the possibility of annexing it by force.<\/p>\n
Since then, a Danish-Greenlandic-American working group has been meeting regularly in an effort to reach an agreement on future cooperation.<\/p>\n
Following Trump\u2019s threats, European countries generally rallied behind Denmark and Greenland, and in January, von der Leyen promised \u201cmassive\u201d EU investments in Greenland to strengthen security in the Arctic.<\/p>\n
Greenland is not a member of the EU, unlike Denmark.<\/p>\n
Brussels also proposed doubling direct financial aid to Greenland to 530 million euros ($616 million) as part of the next EU budget for the period 2028\u20132034.<\/p>\n
According to the *Financial Times*, von der Leyen is expected to offer an additional 200 million euros in support during her visit on Sunday and Monday.<\/p>\n
Her visit coincides with the start of NATO\u2019s \u201cArctic Shield\u201d military exercise, in which military personnel from 10 countries are participating.<\/p>\n
Mikaa Blujon-Mered, a geopolitics researcher at the University of Quebec, described the timing as \u201cnot insignificant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Denmark of neglecting Greenland and Arctic security.<\/p>\n
Since then, Copenhagen has increased its investment in the region, as has NATO, which launched the \u201cArctic Sentinel\u201d mission earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU cannot provide Greenland with a military security guarantee in the same way that NATO can, but it can offer something politically significant: a clear signal that Greenland is not alone,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
This message is even more important as the U.S. continues to exert pressure on Greenland, even though Trump has become less active on the issue since the May visit by his special envoy, Jeff Landry.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery month we receive \u2018postcards\u2019 from Trump or from people close to him, showing that they haven\u2019t forgotten about Greenland,\u201d noted Blujon-Mered.<\/p>\n
In one of these photos, posted by Trump on his social media platform Truth Social in May, he is gazing out over the island, and the caption reads: \u201cHello, Greenland!\u201d<\/p>\n
In August, media reports about a U.S. oil company\u2019s preparatory activities in a remote area of East Greenland once again sparked concern on the island.<\/p>\n
The project is managed by a Texas-based company whose licenses were issued before the 2021 moratorium on oil and gas exploration and production took effect. However, the activities have caused concern among local residents and authorities.<\/p>\n
So far, the authorities have not allowed the company to conduct exploratory drilling, citing procedural reasons.<\/p>\n
Greenland is also facing challenges in developing its mining industry, which could help finance its independence from Denmark.<\/p>\n
In this area, Greenland\u2019s and Europe\u2019s interests are \u201chighly complementary,\u201d Jacobsen noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenland needs investment, infrastructure, and markets if it is to realize its mining potential, while the EU is seeking more secure and diversified access to critical raw materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, turning Greenland\u2019s geological potential into reality is proving more difficult than expected.<\/p>\n
About 135 mining permits are held by more than 60 companies, but only two mines are currently in operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is whether the current geopolitical momentum will ultimately prove to be a game-changer,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
Blujon-Mered noted that von der Leyen\u2019s second visit to Greenland in the past two years sends a strong signal that European investments are long-term.<\/p>\n
During his visit, the President of the European Commission is expected to hold talks with Greenland\u2019s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and the head of government of Denmark\u2019s other self-governing territory\u2014the Faroe Islands. | BGNES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday, September 7, she is expected to sign a joint declaration between the European Union and Greenland.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-160454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-greenland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117222616804682484","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}