According to Bloomberg, the risk of Europe agreeing to "give" Greenland to the US is no longer a fantasy. A senior European official attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, said that more and more European leaders believe that the international order formed after World War II has ended, and US President Donald Trump's ambition to "capture territory" will reshape the global political landscape.
This source expressed concern that, in an effort to further appease Washington, European leaders may accept abandoning Greenland - an autonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark and the largest island in the world. If that happens, this will be an unprecedented geopolitical concession in modern European history.
Bloomberg said that many European officials were really shocked by the US's sudden withdrawal of support, which is considered the foundation of transatlantic relations. According to them, Washington has shifted from a friendly attitude to confrontation in just a short time, making Europe confused in finding ways to react.
Some officials admit they do not understand how the White House continuously makes threats and demands that change rapidly, seemingly without following any consistent logic.
From territorial claims, threats of new taxes to proposing the establishment of a global security forum to compete with the United Nations, the US is creating intense pressure right at the time when Europe is most vulnerable.
According to Bloomberg, the EU is currently divided by the conflict in Ukraine and under prolonged economic pressure. More importantly, the bloc is increasingly skeptical about the credibility of security commitments from the US - a factor once considered the "rock" of European security order for decades.
The article emphasizes that a sense of insecurity is spreading among European policymakers, as events seem to be "out of control" and Europe is being pushed into a new, more cold and confrontational relationship with the White House, regardless of any reconciliation efforts.
In that context, Greenland emerged as a symbolic hotspot. President Donald Trump has repeatedly affirmed the strategic importance of this Arctic island to US national security. In his first term, he publicly proposed to buy Greenland; by March 2025, he even declared that the US could annex this territory.
Greenland is currently an autonomous territory of Denmark. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen signed the Greenland Defense Agreement, in parallel with commitments within the framework of NATO.
According to this agreement, the US is responsible for protecting Greenland from external threats. However, the White House's shift from the role of "guardian" to demanding control of the island has deeply worried many European capitals.
