European Council President António Costa has convened an emergency summit of the E.U.’s 27 national leaders in Brussels on January 22, 2026. Credit: X/@eucopresident
U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and slap tariffs on its backers pose a challenge to Europe’s security, principles and prosperity, a top E.U. official said on Wednesday (January 21, 2026).
“All these three dimensions are being tested in the current moment of transatlantic relations,” European Council President António Costa said. He has convened an emergency summit of the E.U.’s 27 national leaders in Brussels on Thursday (January 22, 2026).
Mr. Trump’s determination to “acquire” the mineral-rich island in the Arctic region, for what he claims are security reasons, has undermined trust in the United States among allies in Europe and Canada.
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Denmark angered Mr. Trump after sending a military “reconnaissance” force to Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. A small number of troops from several European nations joined, and Denmark is weighing a longer-term military presence there.
Mr. Costa said E.U. leaders are united on “the principles of international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” something the bloc has underlined in defending Ukraine against invasion by Russia, and which is now threatened in Greenland.
In a speech to E.U. lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, he also stressed that only “Denmark and Greenland can decide their future.”
He insisted that “further tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the E.U.-U.S. trade agreement.” The lawmakers must endorse the deal made last July, but have threatened not to do so over Mr. Trump’s tariff threats.
Mr. Costa said that “we stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies, against any form of coercion. And the European Union has the power and the tools to do so.”
E.U. leaders have been galvanised by Mr. Trump’s threats over Greenland, and are rethinking their relations with America, their long-time ally and the most powerful member of NATO.
“Appeasement is always a sign of weakness. Europe cannot afford to be weak — neither against its enemies, nor against its allies,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, long a staunch supporter of strong transatlantic ties, posted on social media on Tuesday.
“Appeasement means no results, only humiliation. European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment,” Mr. Tusk wrote.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who manages trade on behalf of EU countries, warned that the bloc is “at a crossroads.” Should tariffs come, she said, “we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”
In Strasbourg, she told the lawmakers that the commission is working on “a massive European investment surge in Greenland” to beef up its economy and infrastructure, as well as a new European security strategy.
Security around the island itself should be boosted with partners like the U.K., Canada, Norway and Iceland, among others, Ms. von der Leyen said.
Published – January 21, 2026 07:01 pm IST
