NATO nations send scouting teams to Greenland amid US annexation talk

BERLIN — Several NATO countries have announced they are sending troops to Greenland amid the Trump administration’s rhetoric of a potential annexation, continuing a balancing act of offering a win to Washington while preserving Denmark’s territorial integrity.

Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, announced it would send an expeditionary group of soldiers to Greenland along with “further European countries” in a short statement late on Wednesday. Sweden, Norway and France, too, have confirmed they have ordered soldiers to the Arctic island.

Additionally, the Netherlands and Canada will be deploying forces to the Danish territory in the high North, officially to take part in a planned NATO military exercise, Operation Arctic Endurance.

The operation does not appear to have any publicly communicated start or end dates, atypical for NATO exercises, which are usually communicated well in advance. There does not appear to be an online record of an operation by that name being publicly discussed prior to Jan. 14. A search of the NATO website similarly returned no results.

Denmark, whose realm the self-administered territory is a part of, had previously announced it would “immediately” bolster its defenses there.

European capitals have been scrambling to make sense of the martial rhetoric out of the White House and find a potential route for de-escalation by touting their efforts to boost Arctic defenses against Russian and Chinese ships around Greenland. They have appealed to U.S. leaders to respect Danish sovereignty while boosting Arctic defenses under a joint NATO push.

At the same time, they have reaffirmed their commitment to Denmark’s territorial integrity, and the EU has said it is looking at potential countermeasures behind closed doors.

The German government initially said 13 Bundeswehr soldiers would depart for Nuuk aboard an A400M transport plane and remain there through Jan. 17. The plans changed on Thursday, with Germany saying its expeditionary team would now fly to Denmark instead and go from there to Greenland aboard a civilian aircraft on Friday, together with Danish forces.

“The aim is to explore the framework conditions for possible military contributions to support Denmark in ensuring security in the region,” the Bundeswehr said in its nocturnal press statement on Wednesday, “for example, for maritime surveillance capabilities.”

On Thursday, the German defense ministry said “specific skill contributions are not yet the focus” of the mission and that, instead, “the task is to gather fundamental insights into the local conditions for deployment and training opportunities” in preparation for further talks and planning within NATO.

In the latest statement, German Minister of Defense Pistorius also called out an alleged threat by Russia and China in the Arctic, in an apparent olive branch to the United States.

Danish officials have pushed back against the U.S. assertion that the waters around Greenland are swarming with Russian and Chinese vessels.

Pistorius had previously name-checked the country’s brand-new P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in the context of a discussion about Greenland and protecting the high North.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed that Stockholm, too, had sent soldiers to Greenland as early as Wednesday, although the government maintains they were dispatched to “prepare for upcoming elements within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance.”

Both Sweden and Germany said Denmark had requested that the allied countries’ armed forces be sent.

Norway has confirmed two military service members have been sent to Greenland “to map out the ‍further cooperation between (NATO) allies,” ‍Tore Sandvik, Oslo’s defense minister, said in an email to Reuters.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed his country’s sending of troops 18 minutes past midnight local time on Thursday, saying on X that “at the request of Denmark, I have decided that France will participate in the joint exercises organized by Denmark in Greenland.” At the time, he said that “the first French military elements are already on their way. Others will follow.”

On Wednesday, representatives of Greenland, Denmark, and the United States met at the White House, but the meeting failed to resolve the standoff.

“We agreed to disagree,” Danish foreign minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen told reporters after the “frank but constructive” talks concluded. He said there was a “fundamental disagreement” between Copenhagen and Washington about the future of the world’s largest island.

The countries agreed to create a high-level working group tasked with finding a common path forward, while Trump reiterated his intention for the U.S. to take possession of the island after the meeting concluded.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——在特朗普政府发表可能吞并格陵兰岛的言论之际，几个北约国家宣布将向格陵兰岛派遣军队，继续在向华盛顿提供胜利的同时，维护丹麦的领土完整，以求平衡各方利益。

德国联邦国防军周三晚间发表简短声明，宣布将派遣一支远征军部队前往格陵兰岛，其他“欧洲国家”也将派兵参与。瑞典、挪威和法国也已确认已向这座北极岛屿派遣军队。

此外，荷兰和加拿大将向丹麦北部地区部署部队，官方目的是参加北约计划中的军事演习“北极耐力行动”。

此次行动似乎没有公开公布的开始或结束日期，这与北约演习的惯例不同，北约演习通常会提前公布。在1月14日之前，网上似乎没有任何关于公开讨论过同名行动的记录。同样，在北约网站上搜索也未找到任何结果。

该自治领土是丹麦领土的一部分，丹麦此前曾宣布将“立即”加强该地区的防御。

欧洲各国首都正努力解读白宫的军事化言论，并寻求缓和局势的潜在途径，他们大力宣传各自在格陵兰岛附近加强北极防御以抵御俄罗斯和中国船只的努力。他们呼吁美国领导人尊重丹麦主权，同时在北约的联合行动下加强北极防御。

与此同时，他们重申了对丹麦领土完整的承诺，欧盟也表示正在闭门研究可能的应对措施。

德国政府最初表示，13名联邦国防军士兵将乘坐A400M运输机前往努克，并在那里停留至1月17日。但计划在周四发生了变化，德国方面表示，其远征队将改为飞往丹麦，并于周五与丹麦军队一起乘坐民用飞机从丹麦前往格陵兰岛。

德国联邦国防军在周三晚间的新闻声明中表示：“我们的目标是探讨丹麦为确保该地区安全而可能提供的军事援助的框架条件，例如，提供海上监视能力。”

周四，德国国防部表示，此次任务的“具体技能贡献目前还不是重点”，而是“收集有关部署和训练机会的当地条件的基本信息”，为北约内部的进一步会谈和规划做准备。

在最新声明中，德国国防部长皮斯托瑞斯还指责俄罗斯和中国在北极地区构成威胁，这显然是向美国伸出的橄榄枝。

丹麦官员驳斥了美国关于格陵兰岛附近海域充斥着俄罗斯和中国船只的说法。

皮斯托瑞斯此前曾在讨论格陵兰岛和保护北海高地时提到过该国全新的 P-8A 海神海上巡逻机。

瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松证实，斯德哥尔摩也早在周三就向格陵兰岛派遣了士兵，尽管瑞典政府坚称，他们被派往格陵兰岛是为了“为丹麦北极耐力行动框架内即将开展的行动做准备”。

瑞典和德国均表示，丹麦已请求盟国派遣武装部队。

挪威国防部长托雷·桑德维克在给路透社的电子邮件中表示，挪威已证实派出两名军人前往格陵兰岛，“以制定（北约）盟国之间进一步合作的计划”。

法国总统马克龙于当地时间周四凌晨0点18分证实了法国将派遣军队前往格陵兰岛。他在X电视台表示：“应丹麦的请求，我决定法国将参加丹麦在格陵兰岛组织的联合军演。” 他还表示：“首批法国军事力量已经出发，其他部队也将随后抵达。”

周三，格陵兰、丹麦和美国的代表在白宫举行了会晤，但会晤未能解决僵局。

丹麦外交大臣拉斯·勒克·拉斯穆森在“坦诚而富有建设性”的会谈结束后告诉记者：“我们同意保留各自的意见。” 他表示，哥本哈根和华盛顿在世界最大岛屿的未来问题上存在“根本分歧”。

两国同意成立一个高级别工作组，负责寻找共同的前进道路。与此同时，特朗普重申了美国在会后接管该岛的意图。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。