Updates: Denmark, Greenland float NATO mission on island

DW.com • January 19, 2026 • general

Key Points:

Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt proposed a joint NATO surveillance mission in Greenland during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, emphasizing the Arctic's strategic importance for collective security.
The US, under President Donald Trump, has threatened to impose tariffs on European countries opposing its bid to acquire Greenland, prompting EU leaders to prepare a coordinated response, including possible retaliatory tariffs and activating the EU's "Anti-Coercion Instrument" or "trade bazooka."
European leaders, including Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stressed the importance of respecting Greenland's sovereignty and warned that tariffs would damage transatlantic relations and economies on both sides.