\n
<\/p>\n
COPENHAGEN: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen heads to Greenland on Sunday for a two-day visit aimed at reaffirming the bloc\u2019s support for the Danish autonomous territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
On Monday, she is due to sign a joint declaration between the European Union and Greenland.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreenland is becoming increasingly important to the EU as a gateway to the Arctic and because of its geopolitical location, critical raw materials and role in Arctic security,\u201d Marc Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Trump was adamant earlier this year about Washington\u2019s need to control the vast Arctic island for reasons of national security, though he ultimately ruled out annexing it by force.<\/p>\n
A Danish-Greenlandic-US working group has since met regularly to find an agreement on cooperation going forward.<\/p>\n
Following Trump\u2019s threats, European countries broadly backed Denmark and Greenland, and in January von der Leyen vowed \u201cmassive\u201d EU investment in Greenland to step up security in the Arctic.<\/p>\n
Greenland is not a member of the bloc though Denmark is.<\/p>\n
Brussels has also proposed doubling direct EU aid to Greenland to 530 million euros ($616 million) under the bloc\u2019s next budget for the 2028-2034 period.<\/p>\n
According to the Financial Times, von der Leyen is expected to propose an additional 200 million euros in support during her visit on Sunday and Monday.<\/p>\n
Her visit coincides with the start of NATO\u2019s Arctic Shield military exercise, bringing together soldiers from 10 countries.<\/p>\n
Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a geopolitics researcher at the University of Quebec, called the timing a \u201cnot insignificant coincidence\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Denmark of neglecting Greenland and Arctic security.<\/p>\n
Copenhagen has since reinvested in the region, as has NATO, which launched its Arctic Sentry mission at the start of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU cannot provide Greenland with a military security guarantee in the way NATO can, but it can provide something politically important: a clear signal that Greenland is not standing alone,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
Pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n The message is all the more important as the US has kept up pressure on Greenland — though Trump has been less vocal since a May visit by his special envoy Jeff Landry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been getting \u2018postcards\u2019 from Trump or those close to him about Greenland every month, showing that they haven\u2019t forgotten,\u201d noted Blugeon-Mered.<\/p>\n One such image Trump posted on Truth Social in May showed him peering over the island, with the headline \u201cHello, Greenland!\u201d.<\/p>\n In August, media reports of an American oil company\u2019s preparatory operations in a remote region of eastern Greenland rekindled concerns on the island.<\/p>\n The project, run by a Texas-based company with licenses granted before a 2021 moratorium on oil and gas exploration and extraction, has left locals and authorities uneasy.<\/p>\n Authorities have yet to grant the company approval for exploratory drilling, citing procedural reasons.<\/p>\n Greenland is also struggling to develop its mining industry, which could help it fund its independence from Denmark.<\/p>\n In this area, Greenlandic and European interests are \u201chighly complementary\u201d, Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n \u201cGreenland needs investment, infrastructure and markets if it is to realise its mining ambitions, while the EU is looking for more secure and diversified access to critical raw materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But turning Greenland\u2019s geological potential into reality is proving more difficult than expected.<\/p>\n Some 135 mining permits are held by more than 60 companies, but only two mines are currently in operation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is whether the current geopolitical momentum will ultimately be a game-changer,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n Blugeon-Mered said von der Leyen\u2019s visit to Greenland — her second in two years — was a strong signal that European investment is long-term.<\/p>\n The EU chief is scheduled to hold talks during her visit with Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and the head of government of Denmark\u2019s other self-governing territory, the Faroe Islands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n