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“It’s been resolved,” US Ambassador to Belgium Bill White told Euronews’ flagship current affairs news programme Europe Today, following a weekend deal between the US, Denmark and Greenland over security on Greenland.
“I told everybody to relax, take a deep breath. It will all be fine. And yesterday, it was announced that it’s all fine,” he said on Monday.
The agreement, which eases tensions between Europe and the US over President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to claim the territory, has been hailed by leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. However, details remain scant.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social media platform that the deal gives his country “permanent control over security.”
It also means that no US “adversary” can maintain a military base on the Arctic island, he added, or make “sensitive investments in Greenland without our express written approval.”
Since his return to the White House in January 2025, Trump has claimed that seizing Greenland is essential for his country’s “national security” and that if Washington did not act, then China or Russia would do so.
Leaders across the European Union have bridled over his rhetoric, with many saying that his Greenland threats crossed a line. “I would say it’s like a marriage,” White said of Trump’s relationship with the bloc. “Sometimes you have to do a little tough love, and tough love is actually very effective.”
On Sunday, while en route to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where the deal is expected to be finalised, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was looking forward to the “prospect of a good agreement” for Greenland, Denmark and the US.
Greenland’s Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the deal, saying it was “to the benefit of us all” and that it would “ensure and strengthen” security on the island.
“We must take good care of Greenland, stand together around what matters most, and remain firm that we must always be treated with respect,” he said.
The purported agreement comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Greenland in early September and unveiled a €200 million investment package that many interpreted as an attempt to counter pressure from Washington. She also directly referenced the territory in her State of the Union address last week, noting that the EU “stood up for Greenland when it was threatened.”
The EU is currently updating its Arctic Strategy as it bids to address the growing security and defence concerns of the resource-rich region, as well as oil and gas drilling. The new, non-binding policy document is set to be published next month.