US President Donald Trump is considering a "range of options" for taking over Greenland, including using military force, the White House has said.
The acquisition of Greenland, which has partial autonomy from NATO member Denmark, is a "national security priority," the White House told the BBC.
The statement came hours after European leaders issued a joint statement supporting Denmark in opposing Trump's ambitions to annex the large Arctic island.
Trump reiterated over the weekend that America needs Greenland for security reasons, prompting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to warn that any US attack would mean the end of NATO.
"The President and his team are considering a range of options to achieve this important foreign policy objective. Of course, engaging the U.S. military is always an option available to the commander in chief," the White House said on January 6.
NATO is a transatlantic military-political alliance., members are expected to come to each other's aid in the event of external attacks.
Six European allies expressed clear support for Denmark on January 6th.
"Greenland belongs to its people and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on issues concerning their relations," the leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark said in a joint statement.
Stressing that they are equally interested in Arctic security as the US, the European signatories to the joint statement said that this must be achieved by NATO allies "collectively", and that includes America.
They also called for "respect for the principles of the UN Charter, which include sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders."
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Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the Prime Minister of Greenland, welcomed the statement and called for "respectful dialogue."
"The dialogue must take place with respect for the fact that Greenland's status is based on international law and the principle of territorial integrity," Nielsen said.
The question of Greenland's future has once again come to the center of attention of the world public after the US military operation in Venezuela, during which The president of the South American country, Nicolas Maduro, was captured and taken to New York with his wife, where he faces charges of drug and arms trafficking..
The day after the surgery, Katie Miller, the wife of one of Trump's senior aides, posted a map of Greenland in the colors of the American flag on social media, with the comment: "COMING SOON."
Her husband, Stephen Miller, said on January 5 that "the formal position of the US government is that Greenland should be part of the US."
"No one would dare to fight the US over the future of Greenland," Miller replied in an interview with CNN when asked if he ruled out the use of force as a possibility for taking over the island.
About 57.000 people live in Greenland.
The island has had broad self-government since 1979, but defense and foreign policy are the responsibility of Denmark.
Although most Greenlanders support eventual independence from Denmark, polls show overwhelming opposition to annexation by the US, which already has a military base on the island.
It was "frightening to hear the leader of the free world mocking and laughing at Denmark and Greenland and talking about us as if we were something he could claim," Morgan Angayu, 27, an Inuit living in Ilulissat in the western part of the country, told the BBC.
"Greenland "It means the land of the Greenlandic people, so the Greenlanders already have a right to Greenland," Morgan said.
He is worried about further developments and wonders whether the Prime Minister of Greenland will suffer the same fate as Maduro, or perhaps even the US will "invade our country."
Buying Greenland or creating a Free Association Agreement with the territory are some of Washington's ideas, an unnamed senior US official told the Reuters news agency.
The US "wants to build a lasting commercial relationship that will benefit Americans and the people of Greenland," a State Department spokesman told the BBC.
"Our common adversaries are increasingly active in the Arctic. This is a concern shared by the United States, the Kingdom of Denmark and NATO allies," the spokesman said.
In a confidential briefing to Congress on January 5, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that the Trump administration was not planning an invasion of Greenland, but rather mentioned purchasing the island from Denmark, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Greenland and Denmark previously said they had requested an urgent meeting with Rubio to discuss US claims to the island.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the conversation with the US top diplomat should resolve "certain misunderstandings".
Senator Eric Schmidt, Republican of Missouri, emphasized the national security aspect.
"I think there are negotiations going on right now," he told the BBC.
"I hope Europe will understand that a strong America is good for Western civilization."
Watch the video: Superpowers race for control of the Arctic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfjIgUFIa6Y
The idea of taking over Greenland is not new in Trump's politics.
More During his first presidential term, he spoke about Greenland. as a strategic American hub in the Arctic.
“Basically, it’s like a big real estate deal,” he said in 2019.
Russia and China's interest in the island is growing in parallel, which has untapped deposits of rare minerals, as melting ice opens up the possibility of new trade routes.
In March, Trump said America would "go to any lengths necessary" to take control of Greenland.
During a congressional hearing last summer, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked if the Pentagon had plans to take over Greenland by force if necessary, and he responded that "they have plans for every contingency."
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