Europe relieved but ‘vigilant’ after Trump Greenland climbdown

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, says he wants to continue a "peaceful dialogue" with the United States. Photo / Jonathan Nackstrand, AFP

European leaders have breathed a collective sigh of relief after United States President Donald Trump’s climbdown over Greenland – but with few illusions about the perilous state of transatlantic ties as they huddled for summit talks in Brussels.

Nato chief Mark Rutte appeared to have pulled off a diplomatic coup by talking Trump down from his Greenland demands. But questions remain about their purported deal, and what might follow.

“We are back to a situation that seems much more acceptable, even if we remain vigilant,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the start of the emergency summit.

Trump’s threats over the vast Arctic territory – an autonomous part of Nato member Denmark – plunged relations between Europe and the US to a historic low.

While the immediate danger to Nato seemed to have passed, the bloc maintained the emergency evening summit called to address the crisis. Its focus now is on how to handle whatever the unpredictable US leader might do next.

Macron insisted that a push by the European Union to unleash its trade arsenal against the US had helped persuade Trump to back down.

“We remain extremely vigilant and ready to use the instruments at our disposal if we were to face threats again,” the French leader said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said support from across Europe for her country had been “extremely important in this very difficult situation”.

“When we stand together and when we are clear and strong also in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then the results will show.”

Details scarce

Trump backed down yesterday both on threatening to seize Greenland by force and on imposing tariffs against European allies, saying he had reached a “framework” of a deal on the island that satisfied him.

The startling turnaround came after talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with Rutte, who told AFP afterwards that there was “still a lot of work to be done”.

Details remain scant on any agreement, but a source familiar with the talks told AFP that the US and Denmark would renegotiate a 1951 defence pact on Greenland.

Trump said the accord would give Washington “everything we wanted”. However, there was no sign that he had succeeded in his repeated vow to make Greenland part of the US.

Frederiksen said discussions about Denmark’s sovereignty were off the table. “It cannot be changed.”

She told reporters in Brussels that Denmark was open to discussing the 1951 pact, “but it has to be in the framework of us as a sovereign state”.

She also said Nato states backed having a “permanent presence” in the Arctic, including around Greenland.

Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said he did not know what had been agreed with Trump, but he wanted to continue a “peaceful dialogue”.

‘Way to go’

It was still unclear what exactly prompted Trump’s U-turn.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed Trump’s retreat over Greenland, calling it “the right way to go”. But speaking in Davos, he also warned of perilous times ahead.

“We have entered a time of great power politics. The international order of the past three decades, anchored in international law, has always been imperfect. Today, its very foundations have been shaken.”

Europe has struggled to set red lines as its once-close American ally has turned hostile under Trump, to the point of threatening its sovereignty.

“It’s absolutely obvious for all of us that we have to do everything to protect our transatlantic relations,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“But what we need today in our politics is trust and respect among all partners, not domination, and for sure, not coercion.”

The continent is ramping up defence spending to break its security reliance on the US. But for now, it still needs US help to end the war in Ukraine and deter Russian threats to its east.

Greenland is only part of the picture, as the US wages a broader attack on the EU’s laws, politics and values - points pressed home by Trump in his speech in Davos.

Leaders are well aware that any respite may be short-lived. Trump was back with new threats later yesterday, vowing reprisals if European countries sold US Treasury bonds in an effort to put pressure on Washington.

- Agence France-Presse