The European Union strengthens its ties with Greenland following new threats from Donald Trump to take over the large Arctic island. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Monday in Nuuk a new investment package of 200 million euros and the signing of a new political declaration with the autonomous territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Brussels thus seeks to reinforce the European presence in the Arctic at a time of growing regional competition.
“Greenland is a strategic ally and a trusted friend,” said the head of the Community Executive during a press conference in Nuuk alongside the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the head of the Greenlandic Government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Von der Leyen’s two-day visit, which follows other trips in recent months by other senior European officials, comes shortly after Iceland’s referendum rejection to restart negotiations to join the EU and new hints from the US president that he will take the island.
At the beginning of August, Trump posted on his social media a picture of himself attentively observing the Arctic island with the caption “Hello Greenland.” The Republican magnate has been coveting the island for some time, an idea rejected by both Denmark and the Government of Greenland.
Brussels has avoided presenting the new package as a response to Washington but has again emphasized that it should be the Greenlanders and the Danes who decide the future of the huge and strategic Arctic island.
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The EU will disburse the new funding package between 2026 and 2027 in projects related to digital connectivity, renewable energies, and critical raw materials. The EU, Greenland, and Denmark have also signed a joint declaration to expand their cooperation in essential minerals, digital infrastructures, cybersecurity, and protection of critical infrastructures. The goal is to consolidate a stronger economic and political presence of the EU in the Arctic.
The area is one of the places where “the tectonic plates of geopolitics collide,” Von der Leyen acknowledged this Monday. The European Commission is finalizing a new strategy for the Arctic which, according to the German conservative, will be presented this fall, at a time when melting ice, access to natural resources, and growing rivalry among powers are raising the strategic importance of the region.
The new package announced by Von der Leyen in Nuuk represents an increase in European support to Greenland. The EU, which wants to appear as a reliable partner for the island, had already allocated 225 million euros to the territory for the 2021-2027 period, and the Commission has proposed raising that figure to about 530 million euros for the 2028-2034 budget framework.
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