According to British media on January 10, London is discussing with European allies about the possibility of deploying military forces to Greenland. At the same time, the European Union (EU) is said to be preparing sanctions against US businesses, in the context of US President Donald Trump continuing to make tough statements related to this strategic island.
Exchanges between British officials and representatives of several European countries, including Germany and France, have been conducted in recent days. In parallel with military scenarios, the EU is considering measures to put economic pressure if Washington rejects the proposal to deploy NATO forces to protect Greenland.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the sanctions options being discussed include the possibility of restricting the operations of large US technology corporations in Europe such as Meta, Google, Microsoft and X, as well as US banks and financial institutions. This is seen as a step to create political leverage against President Trump's announcements of merging Greenland.
A tougher scenario, although not yet prioritized, is the possibility of forcing US troops to withdraw from bases in Europe. If this happens, this move could seriously affect Washington's ability to deploy forces in the Middle East and many other regions, while shaking the foundation for transatlantic security cooperation.
The above discussions took place after Mr. Trump continued to cause controversy related to Greenland on January 9.
Answering reporters at the White House, Mr. Trump declared that if an agreement cannot be reached to seize control of this autonomous territory belonging to Denmark in an "easy way", the US will have to "do it in a difficult way".
According to observers, this statement has caused European countries to worry about the risk of escalating internal tensions within NATO, especially as Greenland has an important strategic position in the Arctic, where geopolitical competition is increasing.
Previously, leaders of 5 political parties in Greenland issued a joint statement affirming their opposition to any scenarios of using force. "We do not want to become Americans, nor do we want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders" - the statement stated, while emphasizing that the future of the island must be decided by the Greenlandese people themselves.
The leader of the largest trade union in Greenland also rejected Mr. Trump's argument that the current status of the island poses a national security threat to the US, affirming that there is no evidence that Russian or Chinese ships are densely present in the Greenland waters.
