The European Union can help provide security for Greenland if Denmark requests it, European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said, warning that a US military occupation of the world's largest island would mean the end of NATO.
Following US President Donald Trump's statement that the US must own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically important and mineral-rich autonomous territory of Denmark, Kubilius said that Washington's move would have "a very profound negative impact on transatlantic relations."
"I agree with the Danish Prime Minister (Mette Frederiksen) that it will be the end of NATO, but it will also have a very, very negative impact among people," Kubilius told Reuters at a security conference in Salem, Sweden.
Representatives from Denmark and the United States, a NATO member, are scheduled to discuss Greenland this week. The Danish and Greenlandic authorities have said the island is not for sale, while Trump has not ruled out the possibility of taking it by force.
Kubilius said he did not think a US military invasion was imminent, but added that Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union obliges member states to come to Denmark's aid if it faces aggression.
"It will largely depend on Denmark - how it will react, what its position will be, but there is definitely an obligation for member states (EU) to come to the aid if a member state is faced with military aggression," said the Lithuanian politician.
Kubilius questioned the US rationale for occupying Greenland by force and warned that the occupation would affect all aspects of European-US relations.
"Who will recognize this occupation, which would affect all relations between the US and Europe, including, for example, trade, where Americans could also face quite painful negative consequences," he said.
He added that the EU could provide greater security for Greenland if Denmark requested it, including troops and military infrastructure, such as warships and anti-drone weapons.
"It's up to the military people to say what is needed to defend Greenland or the Arctic. Anything is possible," Kubilius said.
He also said that Europe needs to strengthen its own military capabilities, regardless of whether it can rely on US help, adding that a US withdrawal from NATO would have serious consequences, according to Reuters.
"It will be a very big challenge to be ready to defend Europe without the US. The question would be how in that case we can use NATO structures, how they can become the basis for the European pillar of NATO. But NATO as it is now will definitely no longer exist," Kubilius said.
Trump said last week that the US will always support NATO and that Russia and China will only fear the Western military alliance as long as the US is part of it.
Many NATO countries have significantly increased military spending in recent years, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Trump's demand for the alliance's European members to invest more in their own defense.
Yesterday, US Senate member Chris Murphy, a Democratic Party representative from the state of Connecticut, also assessed that the US annexation of Greenland would be the end of NATO.
Trump told reporters last night that he “will not allow” Russia or China to control Greenland. Asked if there was any agreement that Greenland or Denmark could offer to prevent US military action, Trump said he would like to see an agreement reached.
"It's easier. But we're going to have Greenland, one way or another," Trump added.
He made a similar statement on Friday, when he said that if the US is unable to reach an agreement on taking over Greenland "the easy way", it will have to do it "the hard way".
Greenland is a territory of Denmark, a NATO member. Article 5 of the NATO Charter stipulates that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members of the alliance. Article 5 has only been invoked once, in support of the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Representatives of the Trump administration have been insisting on taking control of Greenland since US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the US charges with narco-terrorism, on January 3.
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