\n Several NATO countries are deploying small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to participate in joint exercises with Denmark as US President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to forcibly annex the Arctic island.\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump\u2019s declarations have thrown Europe\u2019s decades-old, US-led security alliance into crisis, by raising the prospect of NATO\u2019s largest and most powerful member annexing the territory of another.\n <\/p>\n
\n Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland\u2019s defense, has warned an attack on Greenland would all but end NATO, and announced on Wednesday<\/a> that it was expanding its military presence \u201cin close cooperation with NATO allies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Germany, Sweden, France and Norway have all since confirmed they are sending military personnel to Greenland this week for a joint exercise with Danish troops. Canada and France have also said they plan to open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland\u2019s capital, in the coming weeks.\n <\/p>\n \n It is not unusual for NATO countries to send troops to train in other NATO countries, and there has been a years-long push by allies, including the US, to ramp up joint exercises in the Arctic Circle. The US has about 150 troops stationed at its Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland.\n <\/p>\n \n But both the timing and symbolism of the latest announcements by European nations are a significant show of solidarity at a time of unprecedented tension within NATO.\n <\/p>\n \n Trump has been extremely vocal about his ambitions to seize control of the world\u2019s largest island, including by force if necessary, saying he was \u201cgoing to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not,\u201d during a press conference<\/a> with oil executives on Friday.\n <\/p>\n \n In a statement Wednesday, the German Defense Ministry said it is sending a \u201creconnaissance team\u201d of 13 military personnel to Greenland Thursday for \u201can exploration mission\u201d alongside other partner nations, at Denmark\u2019s invitation.\n <\/p>\n \n Sweden also sent an unspecified number of troops to Greenland Wednesday at Denmark\u2019s request, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on X<\/a>. The Swedish officers will be part of a group of troops from other allied countries who will together prepare for an upcoming exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance, he added.\n <\/p>\n \n French President Emmanuel Macron said France will also participate in Operation Arctic Endurance. \u201cThe first French military units are already on their way. Others will follow,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n Norway is also sending two defense personnel to Greenland, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense confirmed to CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a longstanding military alliance between 30 European states as well as the US and Canada.\n <\/p>\n \n It is built on the principle that an attack on any one member must be considered an attack on them all, which is what makes US threats against Greenland \u2013 which is part of NATO by its association with Denmark \u2013 so extraordinary.\n <\/p>\n \n The Danish defense minister called a potential US attack on Greenland \u201ccompletely hypothetical.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n It is \u201cunlikely that a NATO nation would attack another NATO country,\u201d Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n \n News of European deployments to Greenland came as Danish and Greenlandic officials met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance Wednesday, hours after Trump said on Truth Social \u201canything less\u201d than US control of Greenland is \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cNATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,\u201d Trump wrote early Wednesday, arguing US control of Greenland would also benefit NATO.\n <\/p>\n \n That meeting yielded few tangible results, with Danish Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen noting that he and his Greenlandic colleague had \u201ca frank but also constructive discussion\u201d with Rubio and Vance, but that a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d persists.\n <\/p>\n \n Still, Rasmussen said the parties have agreed to form \u201ca high-level working group to explore if we can find a common way forward\u201d that is expected to meet in the coming weeks.\n <\/p>\n