Several NATO countries are deploying small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to participate in joint exercises with Denmark as US President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to forcibly annex the Arctic island, CNN reported.
Trump’s declarations have thrown Europe’s decades-old, US-led security alliance into crisis, by raising the prospect of NATO’s largest and most powerful member annexing the territory of another.
Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, has warned an attack on Greenland would all but end NATO, and announced on Wednesday that it was expanding its military presence “in close cooperation with NATO allies.”
Germany, Sweden, France and Norway have all since confirmed they are sending military personnel to Greenland this week for a joint exercise with Danish troops. Canada and France have also said they plan to open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in the coming weeks.
It is not unusual for NATO countries to send troops to train in other NATO countries, and there has been a years-long push by allies, including the US, to ramp up joint exercises in the Arctic Circle. The US has about 150 troops stationed at its Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland.
But both the timing and symbolism of the latest announcements by European nations are a significant show of solidarity at a time of unprecedented tension within NATO.
Trump has been extremely vocal about his ambitions to seize control of the world’s largest island, including by force if necessary, saying he was “going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,” during a press conference with oil executives on Friday.
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