Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen made the statement on Jan. 19, after a meeting in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt.
“We proposed this," Danish DM said.
"The NATO Secretary General took note of it, and I believe we can now create a framework for how to achieve this. This also aligns with what we discussed with the Greenlandic government.”
Republican Congressman Michael McCaul earlier told ABC News that a possible U.S. invasion of Greenland will result in a war with NATO and effectively lead to the dissolution of the North Atlantic Alliance.
He noted that U.S. President Donald Trump already has access to Greenland from a military and security standpoint, meaning there is no need for an invasion.
McCaul stressed that purchasing the island and invading it are fundamentally different matters, and that a military scenario will pose a direct threat to NATO’s existence.
“A military invasion will turn Article 5 of NATO’s charter upside down and essentially trigger a war with NATO itself,” the congressman said.
He added that this move could dismantle the Alliance in its current form.
Trump’s interest in Greenland comes first
Trump has repeatedly said that the United States is ready to buy Greenland from Denmark. His statements have also suggested a willingness to use military force over what he described as U.S. national security concerns, as well as threats from Russia and China.
On Jan. 4, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen urged Trump to “stop threatening” to seize Greenland, stressing that the United States has no right to annex any part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
On Jan. 13, a bill proposing the annexation of Greenland and granting it U.S. statehood status was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Republican lawmaker Randy Fine. On the same day, Greenland appealed to the UK government for support, while Europe announced Arctic Endurance military exercises.
The European Parliament expressed “unequivocal support” for Greenland and Denmark and criticized the U.S. objective of taking control of the Arctic island.
On Jan. 14, Danish and U.S. leaders met at the White House, agreeing to hold talks every two to three weeks and to establish a working group.
On Jan. 17, Trump announced tariffs on goods and products from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland in response to these countries’ support for Denmark’s territorial integrity and the deployment of European troops to Greenland.
The eight countries issued a joint statement warning that the tariffs can “undermine transatlantic relations and create the risk of a dangerous spiral of escalation.”