Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) — Greenland’s geostrategic importance, long tied to its resources and location, has surged since Donald Trump’s 2025 United State presidency and rising tensions over Russia’s energy exports to the European Union.
What recently pushed Greenland to the center stage of international geopolitics?
Greenland is surprisingly emerging as both a contested and highly sought out global player due to its strategic location and valuable natural resources. The 45th and 47th President of the United States Donald Trump has been making headlines for his aggressive courting of the autonomous territory of Denmark. He has proposed to strengthen the links between the two, going as far as to talk about potential acquisition of the island. At the same time, and most probably not coincidentally, Greenland is advancing its push for independence from Denmark. Prime Minister Múte B. Egede has announced the creation of a commission to outline the terms of a legitimate independence referendum, which could align with the April 2025 national elections. While these recent announcements have been made, Greenland’s diplomatic stature has also been growing, underscored by the appointment of its first Arctic ambassador to represent its interests in Nuuk and Copenhagen. As Greenland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands prepare to lead the Arctic Council in 2025, Greenland is poised to influence Arctic policy at a time of increasing global competition for control of the region.
Beyond this historic diplomatic phase for the country, Greenland’s rich natural resources are transforming its global relevance – especially for European countries. With the EU seeking alternatives to Russian and Chinese natural resources amidst sanctions and a decoupling strategy, Greenland has emerged as a potential saving grace. To showcase that fact, a 2023 European Commission study identified 25 of Greenland’s 34 nationally found minerals as “critical raw materials” vital to Europe’s industrial and environmental ambitions. Notably, Greenland has the potential to meet up to 73% of the EU’s rare earth needs, offering a chance to reduce reliance on China’s near monopoly in this sector. Beyond rare earths, Greenland’s substantial graphite reserves – essential for battery production – are of high strategic importance for Europe’s efforts to strengthen its green technology supply chains. Against a backdrop of escalating global tensions, Greenland finds itself at a unique crossroads, combining its growing political and economic opportunities with increasing international attention.
Is Greenland a political battlefield between the USA and the EU?
While a multitude of opportunities have recently emerged for Greenland, those also bring along competing projects and interests that can sometimes even be incompatible with one another – particularly between the United States and the European Union. As both powers compete for influence in the Arctic, Denmark and the EU have pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion of using force to acquire the island, with Denmark’s foreign minister emphasizing that Greenland’s future rests solely on the will of its 56,000 residents. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reinforced this stance, firmly stating that the EU would not tolerate U.S. military intervention in the autonomous territory, declaring, “There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be, attack its sovereign borders.”. Moreover, to counter the growing U.S. influence there, the EU opened an office in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in early 2024. Still, Greenland’s 2024 ten-year foreign policy strategy granted the U.S. significant attention while offering less prominence to the EU, even though the EU remains Greenland’s larger historical trading partner. The stage seems set for the political race to Greenland, and the winners are far from being self-evident.
This new status also brings along new challenges
Greenland’s growing geostrategic importance also brings challenges, particularly regarding the price to pay for attracting competing interests of global powers. For instance, the United States has actively blocked Chinese investment in Greenland in the past, a move that, while aligned with U.S. strategic goals, limits Greenland’s access to potentially beneficial economic opportunities. Similarly, in 2016, under probable U.S. pressure, Denmark prevented Hong Kong-based company General Nice from acquiring the abandoned naval base Grønnedal – overall, Chinese imports to Greenland plummeted from $19.8 million in 2018 to just $663,000 in 2019, a considerable economic loss. On the domestic front, Greenland’s push for independence could also backfire by creating economic hurdles, as the country currently relies on an annual block grant of nearly €500 million from Denmark, which accounts for roughly half of its government revenue. Additionally, the rivalry between the U.S. and EU risks placing Greenland at the center of potential geo-cultural conflicts between pro-USA and pro-EU citizens, potentially straining its historical relationships with Denmark and the European continent. This competition may exacerbate internal debates about the island’s future direction, potentially destabilizing its political and social landscape during a critical period of national change.
