Opinion | Greenland’s stress test of Nato will ripple beyond the Arctic

Talk of the United States acquiring Greenland has often been dismissed as rhetorical provocation. But the latest escalation is harder to wave away. President Donald Trump said it would be “unacceptable” if the US did not control Greenland only hours before Vice-President J.D. Vance hosted the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers.

When territorial language is paired with senior-level diplomacy, it forces allies to draw public red lines, narrows the space for quiet crisis management, and turns what might have been a bargaining posture into a credibility contest.

Greenland’s strategic significance is real. It sits astride the North Atlantic and Arctic routes, hosts key early warning and deterrent infrastructure, and is increasingly central to debates over critical minerals and supply chains. But more than that, Greenland is a test case for how alliances handle sovereignty, norms and trust amid great power rivalry.

European leaders are pushed to treat Greenland as a sovereignty-and-alliance issue, not a routine dispute. Danish leaders have responded by reaffirming sovereignty while emphasising that Arctic security should be strengthened through Nato cooperation rather than bilateral bargaining. Greenlandic leaders, meanwhile, face pressure to signal autonomy and protect local legitimacy.

For Washington, the cost is that practical cooperation becomes harder to sustain. In alliance politics, tone is a trust signal. Ahead of the Vance meeting, Danish and Greenlandic officials said they were increasing their military presence in and around Greenland in close cooperation with Nato allies, including exercise activities planned throughout 2026.