Tout commence le 4 janvier. Donald Trump affirme que les \u00c9tats-Unis ont besoin du Groenland pour des raisons de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 nationale. Il relance des ambitions d\u00e9j\u00e0 exprim\u00e9es \u00e0 plusieurs reprises sur ce territoire autonome danois. Le Groenland est strat\u00e9gique tant sur le plan militaire que pour ses ressources naturelles. La r\u00e9action europ\u00e9enne est imm\u00e9diate et inhabituellement unanime. D\u00e8s le 6 janvier, sept chefs d’\u00c9tat et de gouvernement, dont la France, le Royaume-Uni et le Danemark, publient une d\u00e9claration commune affirmant que le Groenland appartient \u00e0 son peuple. Seuls le Danemark et le Groenland peuvent d\u00e9cider de son avenir. La crise franchit un cap lorsque la porte-parole de la Maison Blanche Karoline Leavitt confirme que plusieurs options sont \u00e0 l’\u00e9tude pour acqu\u00e9rir l’\u00eele. Un recours \u00e0 l’arm\u00e9e possible. Une d\u00e9claration qui transforme un diff\u00e9rend diplomatique en confrontation ouverte entre alli\u00e9s de l’OTAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This announcement triggered a reciprocal deployment unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. Denmark announced a reinforcement of its presence in Greenland. Emmanuel Macron made it known that France would send land, air and maritime assets there in the following days. This decision was quickly imitated by Germany, Norway and Sweden. Washington responded with economic pressure: Donald Trump threatened to impose, as of 1 February, additional customs duties. The latter would be of 10 % on the exports of eight countries if no agreement was found on the purchase of Greenland. This threat was described as \u2019unacceptable\u00ab by Macron, and pushed the European Parliament to freeze the ratification of the trade agreement concluded with Washington in 2024. On 21 January, a diplomatic compromise finally emerged. Trump claimed to have laid, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the framework for a future agreement. He put an end to the most spectacular escalation ever observed between two members of the Atlantic Alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outlines of this agreement reveal a strategic intention that is far more precise than simple rhetorical appeasement. The arrangement would involve facilitated access for the United States to certain parts of Greenlandic territory and direct involvement in the island's mining rights. It also entails an indefinite agreement, drawing upon the 1951 US-Danish defence treaty. This text already grants Washington exceptional operational autonomy at its bases. The Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, is the most visible embodiment of this. It constitutes a key link in the future US anti-missile shield, the \u00abGolden Dome\u00bb. In June 2025, its command was transferred from the European Command to the US Northern Command. On the mining front, the stakes are considerable: 24 of the 34 critical raw materials listed by the European Union are present on the island, even though only two mines are currently in operation. There are 135 permits held by over sixty companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is precisely this untapped deposit that Brussels is now seeking to secure in the face of Washington. Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Nuuk at the beginning of September to consolidate a European Arctic partnership, with an additional funding package of around 200 million euros mentioned for 2026-2027. A visit scheduled at the very same time as the NATO Arctic Shield 2026 exercise, which brought together approximately 400 military personnel from ten allied countries in southern Greenland from 7 to 18 September. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen was careful to put an end to speculation regarding EU membership or a merger with the United States. He preferred to deepen a long-standing partnership centred on critical minerals and renewable energy. This sequence of events has also had a knock-on effect far beyond Europe. Indeed, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now calling for a historic tightening of ties between Ottawa and the European Union, arguing that a shifting geopolitical order is pushing Western middle powers to band together in the face of American uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outcome of this sequence is therefore ambivalent. European Union defence spending increased by 60 % between 2020 and 2025. A movement initiated by the Russo-Ukrainian war, but which American pressure on Greenland dramatically accelerated. The paradox is striking since it is an ally, and not a declared adversary, that contributed most in 2026 to convincing European capitals of the fragility of their strategic dependence. But this surge in autonomy comes at a cost: Europe must finance this unprecedented effort against a backdrop of internal budgetary tensions, illustrated by the 54 billion euro austerity plan announced in France for 2027. Arctic researchers remind us that Washington's repeated allusions to Greenland, month after month, show that American interest in the island is by no means a passing episode. The game, far from being over, is undoubtedly only just beginning.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The American threat and the European awakening It all begins on 4 January. Donald Trump claims that the United States needs Greenland...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":31730,"featured_media":4676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[614,609,611,5,4],"tags":[501],"class_list":["post-4674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ameriques","category-defense","category-europe","category-international","category-mis-en-avant","tag-groenland"],"yoast_head":"\n