NATO

John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
V

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
Official statement from Danish DefMin (translated into English). Mentions NATO allies or (European) allies 8 times, and in addition lists explicitly Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. Pretty strong signaling.

As part of the increased presence in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, the Armed Forces will from today deploy capabilities and units in connection with exercise activities, which will mean that in the near future there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from NATO allies.

In 2026, the exercise activities may consist of, among other things, guarding critical installations in society, assistance to authorities in Greenland, including the police, receiving allied troops, deploying fighter jets in and around Greenland and naval task solving.

The Arctic Command will continuously inform the citizens of Greenland about the activities and be in close dialogue with relevant Greenlandic authorities and core actors.

Background for the initiatives
In the summer of 2025, the Armed Forces strengthened their presence and exercise activity in and around Greenland with a number of initiatives and capabilities, including contributions from allies such as Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. The initiatives involved the deployment of capabilities at sea, on land and in the air, as well as exercises related to the protection of Greenland's critical infrastructure.

The Government of Greenland and the Ministry of Defence continue to cooperate closely on the initiatives to ensure local involvement and insight into local conditions.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Research Vivian Motzfeldt says: "As part of the NATO alliance, it is a core priority for the Government of Greenland that the defence and security in and around Greenland is strengthened, and that this is done in close cooperation with our NATO allies. The Ministry of Defence and the Government of Greenland work closely together to initiate initiatives and cooperation among both our Arctic and European allies. Once the exercises start, the Greenlandic population will be continuously informed about the activities via the Arctic Command's platforms."

Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said: "Security in the Arctic is of vital importance to the Kingdom and our Arctic allies, and it is therefore important that we further strengthen our ability to operate in the region in close cooperation with allies. We have done this in 2025, and in a natural continuation of the effort, we will continue and expand the collaboration in 2026. In the coming weeks, the Armed Forces, together with a number of Arctic and European allies, will explore how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can take place."
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The Armed Forces increase their presence and continue with exercises in Greenland in close cooperation with allies
 
S

SolarisKenzo

Well-Known Member
Iceland Prime Minister just left Bruxelles after an unscheduled meeting today with EU Commission President.
The country will propose a referendum to join the European Union.

www.ruv.is

Referendum on EU accession talks likely in spring 2027 - RÚV.is

A parliamentary resolution proposing a referendum on continuing accession talks with the European Union will be presented during the spring session, the foreign minister says. If the proposal is approved, the referendum must be held within a year.
www.ruv.is www.ruv.is
 
V

Vivendi

Well-Known Member
Sweden, Germany and Norway has or is about to send military personnel to Greenland this week. Although all countries are NATO countries, the activities are arranged and synchronized from Copenhagen and not via NATO structures. It seems Germany will send mountain troops tomorrow (Thursday) and with the possibility of sending also air and navy forces later on. The first Swedish soldiers arrived in Greenland today, not sure when the first Norwegian soldiers will arrive, or if they already arrived. Germany sends soldiers to Greenland | Politics | BILD.de

A European diplomat said that troops from the Netherlands, Canada and France will also participate. Denmark and allies boost Greenland military footprint as Trump ramps up pressure – POLITICO

The exercise has been named " Operation Arctic Endurance".

Statements from Danish FM Rasmussen today:

Rasmussen describes today's meeting in Washington as "frank but constructive". He says the US and Denmark's positions on the future of Greenland seem to differ. The Danish foreign minister says US President Trump has made his views clear, but Denmark has a "different position". "We still have fundamental disagreement" but we will continue to talk, he says.
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Danish minister says 'fundamental disagreement' remains after 'frank' Greenland talks with US - live updates - BBC News
 
K

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Vivendi said:
It seems Germany will send mountain troops tomorrow (Thursday) and with the possibility of sending also air and navy forces later on.
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Germany is sending a 13-man advance squad (and an A400M) to Nuuk in a couple hours ("thursday morning") to evaluate potential deployments on site. This advance mission is only until Saturday. Norway is only sending a small detachment (2 men) for the same purpose, same for Sweden.

France, UK, the Netherlands and Canada have also announced troop deployments btw.
 
StingrayOZ

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
kato said:
Germany is sending a 13-man advance squad (and an A400M) to Nuuk in a couple hours ("thursday morning") to evaluate potential deployments on site. This advance mission is only until Saturday. Norway is only sending a small detachment (2 men) for the same purpose, same for Sweden.
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I'm a bit underwhelmed.

Isn't there supposed to be a ready response thing, with the Dutch.

How many European forces have marines? Wouldn't this be one of those situations where France/UK/Germany/Dutch/Scandi each send 500 troops for a goodwill tour/training late notice exercise? I'm sure the Danish would invite them, its not a combat mission, they won't have to fight up the beach, just a good will mission to show commitment and capability.

Trump has been talking about Greenland since taking office. There has been no planning? No discussions on how this would work? No ready response setup? What exactly goes on in NATO offices in Stuttgart.

Isn't a HDAR type response within 7 days normally? Do European countries have a HDAR plan? Pretty sure when Fiji gets hit with cyclones Australia can muster up C17s and a LHD for a < 7 day response. Australia doesn't even have marines, and has amphibious capability for about 5 minutes. Shouldn't eu leaders just simply call for a multinational EU assembly, get offered military plans and pick which one to go with?

What was the plan if the Russians did turn up and the Americans couldn't or didn't help?
 
K

koxinga

Well-Known Member
These forces are symbolic. Optically, signal European solidarity while functioning as somewhat of a tripwire if the US wants to do something stupid.

I can also sense that the Europeans are hoping that Trump can come to his senses or get some better counsel hence the reluctance to call him directly (fair, given he tends to react to personal callouts. He gave the middle finger to a worker that did that recently. Said finger is also on the nuclear button)

This is some weird alternative timeline we stumbled into.
 
John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
koxinga said:
These forces are symbolic. Optically, signal European solidarity while functioning as somewhat of a tripwire if the US wants to do something stupid.

I can also sense that the Europeans are hoping that Trump can come to his senses or get some better counsel hence the reluctance to call him directly (fair, given he tends to react to personal callouts) out or escalate it

This is some weird alternative timeline we stumbled into.
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It will up to Americans to restrain the IOTUS, something they are so far unwilling to do, why, either fear or stupidity or perhaps both.
 
K

KipPotapych

Well-Known Member
koxinga said:
These forces are symbolic. Optically, signal European solidarity while functioning as somewhat of a tripwire if the US wants to do something stupid.

I can also sense that the Europeans are hoping that Trump can come to his senses or get some better counsel hence the reluctance to call him directly (fair, given he tends to react to personal callouts. He gave the middle finger to a worker that did that recently. Said finger is also on the nuclear button)

This is some weird alternative timeline we stumbled into.
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Perhaps, symbolic enough to show that they “object”, but not enough to express the confrontation in order not “to offend” the daddy. The question that remains is whether the daddy will look at it as the joke that it is or, like John Fedup said, someone will talk sense into Mr President. The latter is unlikely, in my opinion. Yet, I still have my (high) doubts there will be any military intervention.

Lots of irony here though, looking for security guarantees from the USA for Ukraine, as well as the Euros (that are already supposedly have then), while trying to object the annexation of Greenland in this funny manner.

The world’s gone mad, but it is the people that make it so.
 
U

uguduwa

New Member
First wave pressure tactics is starting to materialize with tariff threats. I assume, next in line would be sanctions and then finally military intervention which IMO wouldn‘t start until summer because of frozen ocean..
 
C

crest

Active Member
I don't know well one can't rule out trump doing this, it's hard to see it going that far I don't think I need to explain the fact it's neither necessary or how counter productive to u.s national defence this act would happen.
I think there is a good chance this is just high stakes brinkmanship the exit if the bluff is called could very well be the u.s Congress kneecaping the idea as a face saving thing.

Still there is the risk it's possible and a very good argument that at this point there is not much left to save as far as United defence is concerned. It's more a a question of who United defence applies to
 
John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
With Trump, WTF knows. The same applies to who follows him. I am not optimistic about post Trump but regardless the red flag is waving and most allies will be wary of the US wrt support and trade.
 
C

crest

Active Member
John Fedup said:
With Trump, WTF knows. The same applies to who follows him. I am not optimistic about post Trump but regardless the red flag is waving and most allies will be wary of the US wrt support and trade.
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Yeah the words of Kissinger seem purity valid right now " to be a Rica's enemy is dafgoirs to be it's Allie is fatal"
 
H

hauritz

Well-Known Member
Congress needs to grow a pair and reign in Trump's lunacy. Greenland is really of limited economic value since most of its resources are locked under 2 kilometers of ice. As for keeping out the Chinese, if Trump tries his usual tactic of sanctions and tariffs all that he will achieve will be to drive Europe straight into China's open arms.

The US is a fading superpower. As we move more and more into a multipolar world it will become less and less relevent. Last thing it can afford to do is piss off it's allies.
 
John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
hauritz said:
Congress needs to grow a pair and reign in Trump's lunacy. Greenland is really of limited economic value since most of its resources are locked under 2 kilometers of ice. As for keeping out the Chinese, if Trump tries his usual tactic of sanctions and tariffs all that he will achieve will be to drive Europe straight into China's open arms.

The US is a fading superpower. As we move more and more into a multipolar world it will become less and less relevent. Last thing it can afford to do is piss off it's allies.
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Agree and I would add that Congress growing a pair isn't sufficient because the SCOTUS is just as much a problem. As for pissing off allies, that is already happened.
 
John Fedup

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
SolarisKenzo said:
The orange wanna-be dictator is completely out of control, he is marching towards the end of NATO.
He certainly assured generations of anti-american europeans.

www.bbc.com

Trump tariffs: US president announces plan to hit UK, Denmark and other European countries with tariffs over Greenland

The US president says the countries will be charged a "10% tariff on any or all goods" exported to the US from 1 February.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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…and Canadians, Mexicans, and I would think most of South America
 
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