The European Union is intensifying its diplomatic offensive on Greenland. Amid new moves by U.S. President Donald Trump to gain control of the vast Arctic island, Europe is making a move to strengthen its cooperation with the autonomous territory, part of the Kingdom of Denmark and a strategic point due to its potential in raw materials, energy, and location. Brussels keeps sending signals to the Greenlandic government and its citizens. Such as the recent visit of the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Josef Síkela, to participate in a business forum aiming to present the island as a land of great opportunities. The EU official’s trip coincides with that of the controversial U.S. special envoy, Jeff Landry, and the opening of a new American consulate in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, this Thursday.
Brussels has doubled European funding for Greenland (with 57,000 inhabitants) to 520 million euros in the next multiannual financial framework; representing 45% of the total funding for overseas countries and territories. Additionally, the European Commission does not rule out increasing this money injection, which is seen as a political response to Washington and Trump’s threats to annex the island, the largest in the world.
The U.S., which has a Cold War-era base on the island, is now negotiating with Nuuk and Copenhagen to open three more in southern Greenland. But the Trump administration’s demands do not stop there: it wants sovereignty over the territory occupied by future bases, seeks to grant Washington veto power over upcoming Chinese and Russian investments in the Arctic giant, and to sign advantageous cooperation agreements to exploit Greenland’s fabulous natural resources, according to investigations by media such as The New York Times and the BBC, which have delved into the three-way negotiations.
Trump has even threatened to take control of the island, even by force. Although lately his moves have been mainly commercial and political. They still cause concern in Brussels. The EU does not consider the Greenland chapter closed at all, another very hot point of tension with the Trump administration. “Washington has made it clear it will do everything possible to manage Greenland, which would be a direct attack on Europe. The question is how it will react if that really happens,” says a senior EU source.
Greenland has thus become a key stage in the geopolitical competition between the EU and the U.S., emphasizes Penny Naas from the German Marshall Fund think tank. “More than Ukraine, the island could be the biggest short-term challenge to Europe’s newly acquired determination to consolidate a European military power capable of deterring military aggression,” the veteran expert stresses by email.
Until a few years ago, Greenland was a relatively peripheral issue for Brussels. The island, due to its belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, was part of the European Economic Community since 1973. However, in 1985, it left the club after a referendum heavily influenced by the community’s fisheries policy, European ships’ access to its waters, and the perception of loss of control over natural resources.
Since the geopolitical struggle for the Arctic and the rivalry between the U.S., China, and Russia in the region intensified, Europe regained political and strategic interest in Greenland. And that focus expanded and turned into concern with Trump’s threats. The real estate mogul’s renewed appetite has accelerated the sense of urgency in a European Union often overwhelmed by reality.
Washington’s attitude, says Marc Jacobsen, professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, has reminded European actors that Greenland is not just a remote Arctic territory but a society with a strategic location and direct importance for Denmark, NATO, the EU, and the transatlantic relationship in general.
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Some even speak of a “Europeanization of the island.” “Both from Brussels’ and Nuuk’s point of view, which has moved closer to the Union,” emphasizes a senior EU source, where Greenland has become a recurring topic.
The visit of Commissioner Síkela these days and that of dozens of businessmen and ambassadors also shows that the Arctic giant is increasingly a hot spot. The EU’s International Partnerships head was preceded by other senior European officials — also leaders, like Emmanuel Macron in June 2025 in an important gesture — who have wanted to demonstrate that the EU is present in Greenland, that the island matters. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, plans another visit before the end of the year after the one she made in 2024, following Trump’s electoral victory. And the German conservative will not arrive empty-handed, sources in Brussels indicate.
With the Arctic island, the European Union moves in a complicated balance, notes Anne Merrild, professor at Aalborg University (Denmark). “The growing U.S. pressure places Greenland in a very delicate position. On one hand, this attention can grant it greater political influence and attract investments. On the other, if the pressure is perceived as aggressive, it risks increasing distrust and resistance,” the expert reflects.
“For Denmark and the EU, the challenge is to support Greenland without giving the impression of controlling its decisions. Greenlandic self-determination is fundamental in this regard. For Greenlandic society and politics, this context may intensify existing debates about independence, economic development, and external dependence,” Merrild points out. And she stresses: “Greenland should not be treated primarily as a strategic instrument in a power struggle.”
The EU is becoming more attractive to the island because it offers economic and cooperation opportunities, regulatory frameworks, and a less militarized form of collaboration, also notes Marc Jacobsen. “Greenland has a strategy of diversification and autonomy and uses the growing geopolitical attention to strengthen its negotiating position while avoiding becoming a mere object of competition between great powers,” adds the Royal Danish Defence College professor.
The vast territory is a clear example of the blows to the global geopolitical board. Also of the crucial change in the Arctic, which will mark the new European strategy for an increasingly crucial region, economically and geographically. Brussels is reviewing its Arctic policy to ensure its capacity to respond to multiple challenges. From all fronts.
Underlying this is the reality of the decline of the U.S. security umbrella for Europe and its interest, along with Russia’s and China’s, in the Arctic as a stage for geopolitical competition. “The EU has always known this region is important, but it depended on cooperation with the U.S. to drive allied efforts. Not anymore,” concludes Penny Naas. And that represents a paradigm shift that marks everything.
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