EU moves to deepen Greenland ties as von der Leyen lands in Nuuk with investment pledge

The European Union is set to cement its partnership with Greenland on Monday as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits the capital Nuuk to sign a joint declaration with the world's largest island. EU investment pledges, reportedly reaching into the low hundreds of millions of euros, are also expected at the signing ceremony.

Von der Leyen landed in Greenland on Sunday and immediately framed the trip in personal and political terms. "We are family," she wrote on social media, adding that the visit was about further consolidating a unique partnership.

While Greenland is largely self-governing, it remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, an EU member state. That formal link gives Brussels a foothold in the Arctic — but the visit comes at a moment of heightened geopolitical tension, as Washington has repeatedly made clear it considers Greenland vital to US security.

President Donald Trump has revived calls for the United States to acquire Greenland, arguing that Denmark cannot adequately defend the island from Russian and Chinese advances. In July, he renewed those claims and tied them to an ongoing review of US troop deployments across Europe, warning that Washington could scale back its role in deterring Moscow if no satisfactory arrangement on Greenland's future was reached.

Though sparsely populated — Greenland has fewer than 57,000 residents — the territory is strategically located between North America and Europe, and its ice sheet sits atop vast, untapped reserves of critical raw materials. These include rare earth elements and minerals increasingly sought for advanced technologies and clean-energy transitions.

For Brussels, formalizing closer ties with Nuuk is not just about securing a reliable supply chain for critical minerals. Analysts see the move as a clear bid to strengthen the EU's presence in the Arctic and to counterbalance US pressure, while reassuring Denmark of its central role in European decision-making.

The declaration and pledged investments signal that the EU is ready to compete for influence in Greenland — without crossing the same lines as Washington's push to buy the island. The coming months are likely to test whether Europe can turn its partnership into a meaningful, long-term presence in the region.