The leaders of some of Europe’s biggest powers—though, notably, not the European Union itself—came together on Tuesday to issue a statement stressing that “Greenland belongs to its people” and “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.” The statement—agreed on by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK, Denmark, and Greenland—has not been taken to mean much without von der Leyen’s signature. Brussels’ exclusion from this latest document has prompted many to mock the growing insignificance of the bloc.
The signature of only seven European leaders “highlights the division within the European Union. Sweden’s Expressen newspaper also argued in an editorial on Tuesday that “supporting Denmark cannot just be done through small bursts of appropriately angry statements.” Indeed, Washington has so far appeared totally unperturbed by these messages. while European leaders are happy to say they are unhappy with Trump’s manoeuvring, they are likely to leave resolving the dispute to NATO, saying that since Greenland is part of the Danish realm, it falls under the security alliance’s collective defence. The line here is that changes to its security position would therefore fall to NATO. This is also the Hungarian government’s view of the situation.
