Greenland calls on NATO to ensure defense amid US threats

Sara Sjolin, Bloomberg News on Jan 13, 2026

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Greenland’s government said it will intensify efforts to ensure the island’s defenses are managed within the NATO military alliance, pushing back on renewed threats from the U.S. about taking over the territory.

“All NATO member states, including the United States, share a common interest in the defense of Greenland,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement issued late Monday. “The Government coalition in Greenland will therefore, in cooperation with Denmark, work to ensure that dialogue and further development of Greenland’s defense take place within the NATO framework.”

The message comes ahead of a high-stakes meeting of Danish and Greenland foreign ministers with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, according to media reports.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will participate in Wednesday’s meeting, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said, according to Danish news agency Ritzau.

The stated aim for the talks is to help defuse President Donald Trump’s renewed threats toward Greenland and begin repairing strained ties with Washington over the strategically important island.

“The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland,” officials in Nuuk said in the statement. “This is something the government coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstances.”

Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president of the European Commission, also condemned the U.S. approach, calling the threats unacceptable and highlighting that Greenland is not for sale.

“It’s quite obvious that the European project has been targeted as something to destroy both externally and internally,” she said at at doorstep. “Europe grows up in difficult times. These are really difficult times.”

After a meeting with Rubio Monday night, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he is optimistic that Europe can reach a “compromise” with the U.S. over Greenland. Rubio didn’t make any official comments after the meeting.

The dispute has also prompted Trump to renew criticism of other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that any attempt to take over Greenland would undermine the alliance.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Tuesday he will meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday next week in Brussels. Greenland’s minister for foreign affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, will also participate in that meeting, he said, according to local media.

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—With assistance from Samuel Stolton and Christian Wienberg.