A small French military contingent has arrived in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland while numerous European nations are deploying modest numbers for a purported reconnaissance mission.
As US President Donald Trump continues to assert his claim to the Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, the restricted deployment—which also includes Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK—occurs.
French President Emmanuel Macron said, “Land, air, and sea assets” will soon be added to the first contingent.
Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, a senior diplomat, described the mission as a powerful political signal, saying, “This is a first exercise… we’ll show the US that NATO is present.”
Hours after the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland traveled to Washington on Wednesday to meet with US Vice-President JD Vance, Poivre d’Arvor stated that the first French deployment comprised fifteen individuals.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen criticized Trump’s attempt to purchase Greenland after the meeting, stating that although the discussions were fruitful, there was still a “fundamental disagreement” between the two parties.
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “We need Greenland for national security” as he intensified his efforts to subjugate Greenland. He stated late on Wednesday that he believed a deal could be reached with Denmark but he did not rule out the use of force.
“The problem is there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela”, he added.
Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, cautioned that any US military action in Greenland “would be a political disaster” but stated that Poland has no intention of joining the European military deployment there.
“A conflict or attempted annexation of the territory of a NATO member by another NATO member would be the end of the world as we know it – and which for many years guaranteed our security,” he stated during a press conference.
Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy in Belgium said, it was “seriously concerned” about what was happening in the Arctic and accused NATO of increasing its military presence there “under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing.”
However, only a few dozen soldiers make up the European NATO deployment as part of Operation Arctic Endurance, a joint exercise headed by Denmark. It was unclear how long they would stay, despite their strong symbolic meaning.
Finland is sending two military liaison officers on what it described as a fact-finding trip during the operation’s preparation phase.