White House claims ‘acquisition of Greenland’ is purpose of working group – Europe live

Morning opening: Greenland working group off to rocky startJakub Krupa

After meeting with the US vice-president JD Vance and state secretary Marco Rubio on Wednesday, the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers announced a new diplomatic channel to discuss their “fundamental” disagreements over Greenland: namely, a working group with the US.

The US flag is on the roof of the US embassy, with the Greenlandic flag in the foreground during a demonstration titled ‘‘Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders’’ outside the US embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photograph: Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Well, it turns out the White House does not see it exactly in the same way.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, claimed last night that the working group was actually established for the purpose of, erm, “technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland,” prompting an swift denial from Denmark’s foreign minister.

Responding to Danish broadcaster TV2, Lars Løkke Rasmussen reiterated Denmark’s red lines on territory, and hinted that if the US comes to the table with that mindset, it will be “a very, very short series of meetings.”

Oh, well. Off to a great start.

In the meantime, a group of US parliamentarians is visiting Copenhagen today for talks with senior Danish and Greenlandic officials, including Rasmussen.

As they come to the Folketing for their meetings, the US delegation will no doubt notice a Greenlandic flag flying above the building. It’s probably safe to say that they should expect Leavitt’s comments to come up as a topic for discussion.

I will bring you the latest on Greenland here, but also on Ukraine and other news across the continent.

It’s Friday, 16 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

France warns any US Greenland move could endanger trade relationship with EULisa O’Carroll

France has warned the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent that taking Greenland would be “crossing the line” and could endanger the trade relationship with the EU.

In an interview with the FT (£), the country’s finance minister Roland Lescure was asked if the EU would hit back with retaliatory trade sanctions if Donald Trump were to invade Greenland.

He said:

“Obviously, if that happened we would be in a totally new world for sure, and we would have to adapt accordingly.”

The EU using all its diplomatic powers to try and persuade Trump of the dangers of his ambition on Greenland, with Lescure underlining the importance of remaining in dialogue with the US despite their many differences including tariffs on steel and clashes on tech regulation,

“When we disagree, it’s always better to stay engaged, and that’s what we are doing. The dialogue has to keep on going as long as lines that shouldn’t be crossed are not crossed,” he said, noting the US and France had been close allies for 250 years.

The minister told the FT that Bessent, who he met on Monday in Washington, told him that the US “do not like fines”, a reference to the recent €120m fine on Elon Musk’s X.

“I told him that we would apply European laws to any companies that do business in Europe,” he said.

He described the relationship between the US and Europe as a “paradox”, sometimes acting as an ally and sometimes an adversary.

ShareRussia says Greenland is Danish as it laments ‘extraordinary’ clash over territory

Meanwhile, Denmark has received somewhat unexpected backing from Russia, as the Kremlin said that it considers Greenland to be Danish territory and added that the security situation surrounding the island was “extraordinary” from the perspective of international law, Reuters reported.

The agency noted that Moscow said earlier this week that it was unacceptable for the west to keep claiming that Russia and China threatened Greenland, and said that the crisis over the territory showed the double standards of western powers which claimed moral superiority.

Earlier today, however, Russia’s Kirill Dmitriev – Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation – joked about Greenland becoming the 51st state of the US.

Updated at 05.17 EST

Bulgaria faces snap election after leading parties refuse mandate to form government

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev said the country will hold a snap election after leading parties refused a mandate to form a government, Reuters reported.

This drone aerial photograph shows the crowd shine their mobile phones as tens of thousands of protesters gathered in central Sofia to demonstrate against the Bulgarian government last month. Photograph: Dobrin Kashavelov/AFP/Getty Images

The latest development comes a month on from the collapse of the previous government amid public frustration with economic policies and perceived failure to tackle corruption, and just two weeks after Bulgaria joined the eurozone.

ShareLithuania blames Russian military intelligence for 2024 attempted arson attack

The Lithuanian authorities just announced that Russia’s military intelligence GRU was responsible for an attempted arson attack in 2024 on a plant that supplies radio wave scanners to Ukraine’s army, Reuters reported.

Six nationals of Spain, Colombia, Cuba, Russia and Belarus have been charged over the attempted attack, with investigators still looking for three more people, believed to be in Russia.

The prosecutors believe that the group also attempted arson attacks in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania.

“The crimes were coordinated, and orders were issued to the executors by a group of people living in Russia, who are connected with Russia’s GRU,” deputy chief Saulius Briginas of Lithuania’s criminal police told reporters.

ShareMorning opening: Greenland working group off to rocky startJakub Krupa