Denmark proposes NATO surveillance mission for Greenland

Denmark is proposing that NATO start surveillance operations in Greenland, with the support of the Arctic island, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Monday (January 19, 2026) after meeting NATO’s chief Mark Rutte.

“We have proposed it, the secretary general has taken note of that, and I think we can now — we hope — define a framework on how that can be concretised,” Mr. Poulsen told Danish television.

U.S. President Donald Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, as European countries close ranks against Washington’s designs on the vast Danish autonomous territory.

German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” weekend threats by Mr. Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island.

Mr. Rutte wrote on X that he had discussed “how important the Arctic — including Greenland — is to our collective security” with the Danish Minister and Greenland’s top diplomat.

“We’ll continue to work together as Allies on these important issues,” he wrote.

Sweden’s Defence Minister Pal Jonson suggested a NATO mission “could be a way forward” as Mr. Trump insists more must be done to ward off the threat of China and Russia to Greenland.

“We are seeing what is the most constructive way that we could contribute to this endeavour of strengthening the alliance footprint in the High North,” he said after a meeting of Nordic ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels.