![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f9f828ca-9263-4841-8011-875ccd319756.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe move came after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the US on Wednesday highlighted \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d between the Trump administration and European allies on the future of the autonomous territory of Denmark.<\/p>\n
Copenhagen announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday and several European partners started sending symbolic numbers of troops, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers were preparing to meet White House representatives in Washington.<\/p>\n
The troop movements aim to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to US President Donald Trump that a takeover of Greenland is not necessary as Nato can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first French military elements are already en route\u201d and \u201cothers will follow\u201d, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Greenland\u2019s capital, Nuuk, for a military exercise.<\/p>\n
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel on Thursday, its Defence Ministry said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Denmark\u2019s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was \u201cto establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution\u201d, according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several Nato countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.<\/p>\n
Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said on Wednesday that a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d over Greenland remains with Mr Trump after they held talks at the White House with vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump continues to call for a US takeover of Greenland (Ryan Sun\/AP)<\/p>\n
Mr Rasmussen added that it remains \u201cclear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland\u201d but that dialogue with the US would continue at a high level over the following weeks.<\/p>\n
Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the US would go on and European support was becoming visible.<\/p>\n
Several people said they viewed Denmark\u2019s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other Nato allies, as protection against possible US military action, but European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a US move against the island.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Mr Poulsen had announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic \u201cin close co-operation with our allies\u201d, calling it a necessity in a security environment in which \u201cno one can predict what will happen tomorrow\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other Nato allies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the European troop movements were co-ordinated with Nato or what role the US-led military alliance might play in the exercises, Nato referred all questions to Danish authorities. However, Nato is studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.<\/p>\n
Mr Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Poulsen said the group was \u201cbetter than no working group\u201d and \u201ca step in the right direction\u201d, but added that the dialogue with the US did not mean \u201cthe danger has passed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really happy that action is being taken to make sure that this discussion is not just ended with that meeting alone,\u201d Greenlandic MP Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam said on Thursday during a news conference in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n
She said Greenlandic people understood they were at a \u201cpivotal point\u201d in a broader transformation of the international rules-based order and felt responsible not just for themselves but also for the whole world to get it right.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday after the White House talks, Mr Rasmussen rejected both a military takeover and the potential purchase of the island by the US. Asked whether he thought the US would invade, he replied: \u201cNo, at least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that would be the end of Nato.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that Greenlanders were unlikely to vote for US rule even if financial incentives were offered, \u201cbecause I think there\u2019s no way that US will pay for a Scandinavian welfare system in Greenland\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump told reporters: \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The move came after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the US on Wednesday highlighted \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,11,23,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-286880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-latest-news","14":"tag-latest-news-ticker","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-world","22":"tag-world-news","23":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115902673293103267","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}