U-turn on Greenland: what comes next?
Following the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, details have emerged regarding the potential terms of a new Greenland agreement. According to media reports, it would include additional military bases under US sovereignty, a bigger security policy role for European states and the planned US missile defence system 'Golden Dome'.
Bull in a china shop
Tygodnik Powszechny's editor-in-chief Jacek Stawiski comments:
“I venture to suggest that the American-European agreement on Greenland will include significant changes to the island's security status. For example a considerable number of US troops, new military facilities, bases, additional ports, radar and communications intercept stations could be stationed there. All of this could have been achieved without the irritating and almost absurd arrogance with which Trump tried to impose his will on Washington's loyal ally Denmark and the rest of Nato.”
Wish list down to a minimum
In a Facebook post, digital creator Andrey Pavlichenkov welcomes the US's backtracking on Greenland:
“Trump reverted to the minimum – extending the 1951 treaty with Denmark. This would give the US sovereignty over the territory of its bases in Greenland (modelled on the British sovereign bases in Cyprus), some new bases under the 'Golden Dome' missile defence project – which does not even exist on paper yet – and a share in mineral rights (which are worthless for the foreseeable future). ... It may happen that the Greenland project for expanding US territory will be shelved due to its unpopularity within Trump's own party and Europe's rather tough stance.”
The Danes will not forget this
The Greenland crisis will not be forgotten anytime soon, Aktuálně.cz comments:
“The bitterness felt by Europeans - especially the Danes - will remain. All the crude statements and provocative animated images of Trump planting the American flag on the territory of his Nato ally will leave their mark. Trump called Denmark ungrateful. ... That must hurt the Danes the most. A traditional ally, one they didn't abandon after 11 September 2001, has turned against them. The Danes deployed around 12,000 troops alongside the Americans in Afghanistan, who actually fought and paid with 43 casualties. ... The crisis has been averted (for now), but the Danes will remember this.”
Masterful diplomacy
Politiken praises Denmark and Greenland for their negotiating skills:
“The Danish and Greenlandic governments have handled the situation masterfully, sticking together and insisting that the territorial integrity of the Realm is not up for negotiation. Our European allies and Canada have unhesitatingly supported Denmark in the biggest security crisis in recent Danish history. However, the crisis is not over yet. Donald Trump is notorious for changing his mind without warning, but hopefully the Greenlanders will now be spared his mafia-like bullying.”
Trump is not acting alone
Helsingin Sanomat hopes that the EU has learned from the Greenland conflict:
“Even though Europe was unable to agree on concrete countermeasures, Trump realised that his blackmail would lead to a backlash. ... Hopefully European decision-makers will learn from this. We mustn't think that Trump is acting alone. Behind him there is a front in the United States that - actively or passively, loudly or silently - supports the current approach: isolationism, egoism and distancing from Europe. ... Even if a new president is elected in the United States in three years' time, many of the policies created by Trump will remain in place. And by the same token the attitude with which Europe is currently responding to Trump must also remain in place.”
Choose the path of least resistance
Europe has got off lightly and should now refrain from doing anything else that might upset Trump, says The Spectator:
“Doing absolutely nothing is a task that sits well within the skills set of Europe’s current leadership. Saying absolutely nothing is one they are less well practiced at. ... There are a wide variety of moves that the Europeans could make at this stage, most of them insubstantial, to signal that they are not going to be pushed around. But the option of just not doing anything is on the table, and for once the path of least resistance might just be the correct one. It may seem timid or craven, but that might just be our lot for the time being.”
Not a brilliant deal, but a retreat
Dagens Nyheter says there can be no talk of détente:
“One thing should be clear: this is not a brilliant deal, but a retreat. It was not Rutte's plea to 'Daddy' but the courage of the Danes in standing up to the tyrant that made an impact. We must also be clear that we must continue our resistance - against the leader of the country that should actually be our main ally. He is a man who can never make Article 5 credible. Nato has survived Davos. But Nato as we knew it no longer exists. Our military rearmament must be massively accelerated.”
Willingness to negotiate is progress
Europe should view these latest developments as an opportunity, El Mundo argues:
“This gesture indicates a willingness to negotiate which contrasts with Trump's confrontational rhetoric so far and would represent progress. ... However, this progress is accompanied by worrying signs. Hours earlier, Trump reaffirmed an intolerable contempt for Europe, which was expressed in three key points: his strategic interest in the Arctic island, his intention to impose an unjust peace on Ukraine, and his disregard for Nato. ... Europe must see the framework of an agreement on Greenland as an opportunity to strengthen its strategic position, not as a guarantee of stability. Trump's unpredictability calls for caution.”
This is how to stop Trump
For L'Echo the reaction of the markets was decisive:
“We must also face facts: what stopped Donald Trump was above all the negative reaction of the markets, as was already the case in the aftermath of Liberation Day last April, when the US president announced his tariffs. At the height of the tensions on Tuesday, Wall Street saw selling movements that were worrying for the White House. An analysis by an expert at Deutsche Bank highlighted the risk for the US that European investors could offload some of their 8 trillion dollars in US government bonds. ... A strong and united political stance accompanied by a reaction from the markets are the ingredients needed to stop the US president.”
US no longer an ally
On the republica.ro website, journalist Sorin Cucerai says the EU must give up the idea that the Nato alliance with the US can be maintained in the long term:
“For Europeans, America is no longer an ally but merely a partner. In certain areas this partnership will be close, in others less so, and in others there will be direct competition. But there will no longer be an alliance. In practical terms, we are returning to the relationship that existed between Europe and the US before World War II. This is because Europe has (re)gained its strategic autonomy. So for Europeans, security guarantees no longer come from Washington, but from Brussels.”
Finland will gladly help break the ice
The dispute over the Arctic could be beneficial for Helsinki economically, Kauppalehti speculates:
“Finnish shipyards have built dozens of icebreakers and ice-breaking ships for the Soviet Union and Russia in the past, so it is also in Finland's interest to strengthen the presence of its ally, the United States, in the Arctic. ... In Davos this week, there was talk of boosting Nato presence in the Arctic and using increased defence spending for European icebreakers. If there is anything positive to be gained from this extraordinary situation, it is the possibility that Finland will receive new orders for icebreakers and that security in the Arctic will get the attention it deserves.”