Europe Confronts Trump’s Greenland Ambitions
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Europe deploying troops to Greenland, a deadly U.S. immigration crackdown in Minnesota, and internet blackouts disrupting Uganda’s presidential election.
Several European countries deployed troops to Greenland on Thursday in a pointed message against U.S. ambitions to acquire the Danish territory. Although the military buildup appears small, this symbolic display of European unity aims to demonstrate that a U.S. takeover of the island is unnecessary to safeguard the Arctic from NATO’s adversaries.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Europe deploying troops to Greenland, a deadly U.S. immigration crackdown in Minnesota, and internet blackouts disrupting Uganda’s presidential election.
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Several European countries deployed troops to Greenland on Thursday in a pointed message against U.S. ambitions to acquire the Danish territory. Although the military buildup appears small, this symbolic display of European unity aims to demonstrate that a U.S. takeover of the island is unnecessary to safeguard the Arctic from NATO’s adversaries.
Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden sent military staff to Greenland on Thursday to begin what they said were preparations for larger military drills later this year. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Thursday that the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution” on and around the island.
“It is clear that we now will be able to plan for a larger and more permanent presence throughout 2026,” Poulsen added. “And that is crucial to show that security in the Arctic is not only for the Kingdom of Denmark. It is for all of NATO.”
The European troop movements follow U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio failing to broker a deal with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt on the United States’ annexation ambitions. Rasmussen cited a “fundamental disagreement” with the White House for the lack of a breakthrough on Wednesday.
On Monday, Poulsen and Motzfeldt are expected to meet NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels to........
