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Nato allies discussed sending troops to Greenland

07 February 2025 18:37 (UTC +04:00)

Nato countries discussed deploying troops to Greenland in response to Donald Trump threatening to use the US military to seize the Danish island, APA reports citing The Telegraph.

Germany was among dozens of European allies understood to have held informal talks over “what Nato troops would do” if the US president followed through on his threats, diplomatic sources told The Telegraph.

Questions were even raised over whether Article 5, the Western military alliance’s mutual defence clause, could be invoked in the event of an American invasion of a fellow Nato member state.

It came after Mr Trump started his second term in the White House openly considering a forcible takeover of Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark.

The US president has said it would be an “unfriendly act” if Copenhagen refused to give up the Arctic island while Russia and China both push to bolster their presence in the area.

Mr Trump started his second term in the White House openly considering a forcible takeover of Greenland, with his son, Donald Jr, visiting the island in January Credit: Emil Stach/via Reuters

Berlin’s involvement in the clandestine discussions has attracted criticism from some of Nato’s most ardent backers of Kyiv given the refusal of Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to consider a deployment of troops to Ukraine.

“Berlin doesn’t want to send troops to Ukraine because the situation is ‘too ambiguous’ but is openly flying kites about sending Nato troops to Greenland,” a Nato diplomat told The Telegraph. “It’s a moral compass without a needle.”

Robert Brieger, an Austrian general in charge of the EU’s military committee, said that it would send a “strong signal” to deploy Brussels-led forces to Greenland.

Mr Trump’s remarks have prompted divisions among European nations over how to react without causing a transatlantic crisis.