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European leaders rally behind Greenland as US ramps up threats
Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent and Dan Sabbagh
European leaders have dramatically rallied together in support of Denmark and Greenland after one of Donald Trump’s leading aides suggested the US may be willing to seize control of the Arctic territory by force.
Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, declared that Greenland – a semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark – “belongs to its people”, in a rare European rebuke to the White House.
“It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the three leaders said in a statement on Tuesday, made jointly with the prime ministers of Denmark, Italy, Poland and Spain.
Later in the evening, Starmer repeated British support for Denmark at a press conference in Paris where Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were present. “I’ve been very clear as to what my position, the position of the UK government, is,” the British leader said.
But, anxious to avoid deepening the transatlantic rift, Starmer, Macron and Merz chose to focus on making fresh security commitments to Ukraine, at an event aimed at bolstering support for Kyiv planned before the Greenland crisis broke.
The European declaration emerged in response to renewed US demands to seize control of the self-governing territory in the aftermath of the capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro by the US military.
Morning opening: One step forward, one step back
Jakub Krupa
It’s one step forward, one step back in Europe’s relations with the US.
Just hours after the Coalition of the Willing made a big step towards providing Ukraine with long-awaited security guarantees with potential UK and French troops deployments and all briefly seemed to be going in the right direction once again, the White House said that using US military is “always an option” for acquiring Greenland.
The comments came just hours after a number of European allies issued a stern statement backing Denmark and Greenland, as they continue to oppose Donald Trump’s plan.
Denmark held an emergency meeting of the foreign affairs committee last night to discuss its next steps.
Overnight, the Wall Street Journal reported ($) that US state secretary Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Trump’s preferred option was to buy Greenland from Denmark, and not invade it, but I am not entirely sure if that will convince anyone in Copenhagen about the merits of the proposal.
This morning, the French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that having spoken to US Rubio last night, he was also confident that a Venezuela-like scenario would not materialise in Greenland. For now.
But he confirmed that France was working with partners on a plan on how to respond should the US act on its threat to move to take over Greenland, with the issue expected to come up at today’s ministerial meeting with his counterparts from Germany and Poland.
Separately, I will keep an eye on EU talks on the Mercosur trade deal, which is back on the table today after a delay caused by some opposition from the likes of France and Italy, as the bloc looks to boost its international trade.
Oh, and there are numerous winter disruptions across Europe, causing havoc with hundreds of flight cancellations and delays at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam (more than 3,300 flights cancelled since last Friday, as per Flightradar24’s count) and CDG in Paris, among others.
Large parts of Europe will see temperatures well below zero today, with -9 in Warsaw, -5 in Berlin, and -2 in Paris and Brussels.
I will bring you all the key developments here.
It’s Wednesday, 7 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
