{"id":765,"date":"2025-01-25T18:21:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T19:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/?p=765"},"modified":"2025-01-25T19:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T19:26:00","slug":"eu-military-chief-wants-troops-in-greenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/eu-military-chief-wants-troops-in-greenland\/","title":{"rendered":"EU military chief wants troops in Greenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels has \u201cinterests\u201d on the island just like Washington, Gen. Robert Brieger has said, pointing to tensions with Russia and China<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Union should deploy military forces in Greenland, the chairman of the EU Military Committee (EUMC), Gen. Robert Brieger, said in an interview published Saturday. He cited Greenland\u2019s geopolitical importance and \u201ctensions\u201d<\/em> with Russia and China as the reason for his suggestion. It comes as US President Donald Trump has been laying claim to the island.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt would make perfect sense not only to station US forces in Greenland, as has been the case to date, but also to consider stationing EU soldiers there in the future,\u201d Brieger told Die Welt, referring to a major US military base that has been there since the early 1940s.<\/p>\n

Such a deployment would \u201csend a strong signal and could contribute to stability in the region,\u201d<\/em> believes the former Austrian chief of staff, who currently leads a body that includes the chiefs of staff of EU member states. Brieger said that although the autonomous Danish territory is not legally a part of the bloc, \u201cthe Europeans \u2013 just like the USA \u2013 have interests in Greenland.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Ukrainian aid has crippled Denmark\u2019s defense capabilities \u2013 Politico<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The general cited rich deposits of raw materials on the island and its proximity to international trade routes, calling it an area of \u201cgreat importance from a geopolitical point of view.\u201d<\/em> He also described the territory as \u201chighly relevant from a security policy perspective.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Referring to US claims on the island, Brieger said that he expected Washington to respect the territorial integrity of other nations and the UN Charter. Instead, the general drew attention to potential \u201ctension with Russia and possibly China\u201d<\/em> in the area if the polar ice caps continue to melt due to climate change.<\/p>\n

Greenland has been grabbing headlines recently as Trump has repeatedly claimed that ownership of Denmark\u2019s mineral-rich Arctic island is necessary for US national security. Earlier this month, he refused to rule out a military solution.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Danes \u2018freaked out\u2019 over Trump\u2019s Greenland pressure \u2013 FT<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Brussels responded to Trump\u2019s comments by describing a potential US attack as a \u201chighly theoretical issue.\u201d<\/em> Trump\u2019s desire to acquire the island has reportedly sparked concern in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Financial Times reported that the US president\u2019s aggressive way of pushing the idea in a phone call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen earlier this month triggered panic in the Nordic nation\u2019s capital. The paper\u2019s sources described the 45-minute-long conversation as \u201chorrendous\u201d<\/em> and compared it to \u201ca cold shower.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Frederiksen reportedly reiterated Denmark\u2019s stance that the island is not for sale. Earlier this week, a Danish politician, Anders Vistisen, took the floor of the EU parliament in Strasbourg and told Trump to \u201cf**k off,\u201d<\/em> voicing his opposition to the idea of the US acquiring Greenland.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans in Congress have at least entertained the idea. GOP Congressman Andy Ogles introduced a bill to allow Trump to acquire Greenland, saying the US should be the \u201cdominant predator.\u201d<\/em> He dubbed the bill \u2018Make Greenland Great Again\u2019. Carla Sands, Trump’s former ambassador to Denmark, has also publicly backed the proposal, arguing that Denmark cannot adequately defend the island and suggesting that US control would be a \u201ccommon-sense solution.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels has \u201cinterests\u201d on the island just like Washington, Gen. Robert Brieger has said, pointing to tensions with Russia and China The European Union should deploy military forces in Greenland, the chairman of the EU Military Committee (EUMC), Gen. Robert Brieger, said in an interview published Saturday. He cited Greenland\u2019s geopolitical importance and \u201ctensions\u201d with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":769,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions\/769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}