The European Union reinforces its presence in Greenland with 200 million euros

The European Union wants to be more present in Greenland. While in the White House the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has been insisting for months on annexing the Arctic island, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has traveled to Von der Leyen to announce a new strategy towards the island that includes 200 million more euros in investments and also a reinforcement of political ties with the autonomous Danish territory, whose future, she has insisted, concerns only Greenland and Denmark "and no one else."

“Territorial integrity, sovereignty and the inviolability of borders are fundamental principles of international law,” the German conservative recalled, without directly pointing out Trump, in an appearance alongside the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the Greenlandic Premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Von der Leyen has signed a collaboration agreement that includes this additional financial package for this year and next, with investments focused on three major priorities: satellite connectivity, energy self-sufficiency through renewable sources and critical raw materials, one of the reasons why Trump is so interested in the island. It represents a significant increase in European financing allocated to this territory - between 7 and 8% of the Dutch Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - and reflects the "clear choice of Greenlanders to strengthen ties with the EU", indicated the German president.

According to the community vision, “this will generate new opportunities and contribute to a strong and committed EU both in Greenland and in the Arctic”, but it also shows “Europe's great interest in having also made a decision, that of having a greater presence and greater commitment in Greenland and the Arctic”.

In his second term, US President Donald Trump has insisted on acquiring Greenland, something he has not forgotten despite the fact that the situation is currently being discreetly negotiated by a working group made up of US, Greenlandic and Danish representatives that must continue negotiating until the end of the year. In July, on the sidelines of the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, the magnate repeated from Recep T. Erdogan's presidential palace that the island “should be under the control of the United States, and not Denmark.”

The EU's direct investments in Greenland anticipate a new Arctic strategy that the EU will present at the end of October, a document that will no longer define the region as the "far north", but will classify it as the "northern neighborhood" of the community bloc to underline the importance that these waters represent for Europe. Furthermore, the Commission has proposed more than doubling the financial aid allocated to this territory to exceed €530 million for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the future EU budget that will cover the next seven years, and which the community capitals are currently negotiating.

During their second day on the Arctic island, Von der Leyen, Frederiksen and Nielsen visited an abandoned historic settlement in Qoornock and a Danish frigate, among other stops. The trip coincides with the start of NATO exercises in Greenland, part of the Atlantic Alliance's efforts to convince Washington that it is protected. 400 soldiers from eleven countries of the Atlantic Alliance will participate, including Denmark, France and Germany, who will train jointly on land, sea and air in southern Greenland and also in the western fjords, as part of Operation Arctic Sentinel to reinforce control in this critical global area.