'We are family', says EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at start of Greenland visit
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Greenland on Sunday for a two-day visit aimed at reaffirming the bloc's support for the Arctic island coveted by the US President Donald Trump.
Issued on: 06/09/2026 - RFI
"We are family," she said on her arrival in the island's capital, Nuuk, where she was welcomed by Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen.
Throughout her trip, von der Leyen will send the message that the Danish autonomous territory belongs with Europe rather than the US.
Her agenda includes a boat outing amid the icebergs, meetings top Greenlandic and Danish officials and signing a joint statement between Greenland and the EU.
US security plan for Greenland
Trump insisted earlier this year that Washington needed to control Greenland for national security reasons, though he ultimately ruled out annexing it by force.
A Danish-Greenlandic-US working group has since met regularly to find a way of cooperating in the future.
Following Trump's threats, European countries as well as Canada backed Denmark and Greenland.
In January, von der Leyen vowed there would be massive EU investment in Greenland to step up security in the Arctic.
Brussels has proposed doubling direct EU aid to Greenland to €530 million under the 27-nation bloc's next budget for the 2028-2034 period.
According to the British newspaper Financial Times, von der Leyen is expected to propose an additional €200 million in support during her visit on Sunday and Monday.
"Europe is delivering," she said. "We are expanding our cooperation to new areas, from better, faster connectivity and clean energy to critical raw materials."
10-nation military exercises
Von der Leyen's visit coincides with the start of Nato's Arctic Shield military exercise, bringing together soldiers from 10 countries.
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Denmark of neglecting Greenland and Arctic security.
However, Copenhagen has since reinvested in the region, as has Nato, which launched its Arctic Sentry mission at the start of the year.
"Greenland is becoming increasingly important to the EU as a gateway to the Arctic and because of its geopolitical location, critical raw materials and role in Arctic security," Marc Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, told the French news agency AFP ahead of the visit.
"We've been getting 'postcards' from Trump or those close to him about Greenland every month, showing that they haven't forgotten," said Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a geopolitics researcher at the University of Quebec.
One such image Trump posted on social media in May showed him peering over the island, with the headline: "Hello, Greenland!"
Last month, media reports of an American oil company's preparatory operations in a remote region of eastern Greenland rekindled concerns on the island.
The project, run by a Texas-based company with licences granted before a 2021 moratorium on oil and gas exploration and extraction, has left locals and authorities uneasy.
Authorities have yet to grant the company approval for exploratory drilling, citing procedural reasons.
Greenland, home to 57,000 inhabitants, is also struggling to develop its mining industry, which could help it fund its independence from Denmark.
But turning Greenland's geological potential into reality is proving more difficult than expected. Around 135 mining permits are held by more than 60 companies, but only two mines are currently in operation.
EU chief von der Leyen heads to Greenland in show of support for the island
Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos this year, von der Leyen said the EU was working on a "massive European investment surge" in Greenland in a bid to ramp up Arctic security.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is visiting Greenland on Sunday and Monday as the bloc signals its continued support for the island amid US President Donald Trump's repeated calls for the United States to acquire it.
As part of the visit, von der Leyen is expected to sign a joint declaration between the EU and the Danish autonomous territory on Monday.
Since his return to the White House in January last year, Trump has claimed the US needs to take control of Greenland for its "national security," arguing that either China or Russia would otherwise seize the island.
Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa issued a joint statement in January in which they highlighted the importance of "territorial integrity and sovereignty" and said the EU stood "in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland."
Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos this year, von der Leyen said the EU was also working on a "massive European investment surge" in Greenland in a bid to ramp up Arctic security.
The Commission has proposed allocating €530 million to Greenland under its budget for the 2028–2034 period, which it said reflected its "growing geostrategic importance in the Arctic."
The Financial Times reported that von der Leyen is set to announce an additional €200 million in funding for the island during her visit.
Houses are seen near the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
In May, Trump's special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, said it was time the US "puts its footprint back" on the territory.
Landry, who is also the governor of Louisiana, made the comments during a trip to the territory, his first since his appointment to the special envoy role in December 2025.
Speaking from Greenland's capital, Nuuk, Landry told Agence France-Presse: "I think that you're seeing the president talk about increasing national security operations and repopulating certain bases in Greenland."
"Everyone that I've talked to in Greenland would love to see the US repopulate those bases," he continued, adding that the territory "needs the US."
In January, the leaders of five political parties in Greenland’s parliament released a joint statement with a clear message to the US.
"We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes; we want to be Greenlanders," it read.
The US is reported to have had 17 military facilities and more than 10,000 troops on Greenland at the height of the Cold War. It currently operates just one base on the island, the Pituffik Space Base - the US Department of Defense's northernmost installation.
Pituffik is used for missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions, according to the US Space Force.
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