Rutte's Arctic strategy to appease Trump

BrusselsDonald Trump threatened to invade Greenland The argument was that Denmark and NATO's European allies have left the Arctic unprotected, a situation being exploited by the militaries of China and Russia. For this reason, European leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte promised to reinforce security in the region and increase military capabilities to appease the occupant of the White House. In fact, the US president and the head of the military organization agreed to launch a NATO operation in the Arctic in exchange for the Republican leader withdrawing his threats to seize Greenland by force and to restart a trade war against the European Union.

The Dutch leader presented the operation, dubbed Operation Arctic Sentinel, with great fanfare this Wednesday, but admitted that the initiative is limited to grouping and coordinating all the military capabilities of the Atlantic partners under a single NATO command. "What's truly new is that we're putting everything we do in the Arctic under a single command," the Secretary General of NATO acknowledged at the press conference ahead of the NATO Defense Ministerial Summit taking place this Thursday in Brussels. Rutte argued that this unification will allow for a "more efficient" use of the resources that the allies already allocate to Arctic protection, so that they have "a greater impact." Furthermore, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance asserted that this increased coordination will make it easier for them to "identify what security gaps" they have in the region and allow them to "address them."

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen welcomed the launch of the initiative and stated that Denmark has long been pressing for NATO to play a more significant role in the Arctic. He expressed his extreme satisfaction that NATO has responded with concrete activities. "We will contribute substantially, and we must then maintain this momentum to ensure that the Arctic is reflected in NATO's long-term exercise plans and activities," he added.

The Danish government also emphasized that the activity will be conducted in close dialogue with the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. "The Arctic is changing, and it is crucial that we cooperate with our NATO allies to strengthen the region's defense and security," stated Greenland's Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt.

It must be remembered, however, that before Trump's interest in Greenland and his threats against European allies, Arctic security was not among NATO's top priorities. Diplomatic sources within the Atlantic Alliance admit that until the US president attacked Denmark's sovereignty, concern for the region's security was much lower, including in the United States. In fact, the Pentagon had substantially reduced its troop presence on the Arctic island in recent years, although it has agreed with Danish and Greenlandic authorities that it can send as many troops as it deems necessary.

US apathy towards NATO

This marks the second consecutive time that a NATO ministerial meeting will take place without a secretary from the Trump administration. This unprecedented act of negligence demonstrates the extent to which the United States, which controls de facto NATO is distancing itself from the military organization and the security interests of its European allies. Thus, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will not attend Thursday's meeting; his Under Secretary, Elbridge Colby, will attend in his place. However, a growing number of European allies are joining the PURL initiative (Ukraine's Priority Request List), which involves purchasing weapons from the United States for shipment to Ukraine. In this way, the White House has succeeded in cutting aid to Ukraine, getting Europeans to increase the amount of weaponry they send to Kyiv, and ensuring that these weapons are American-made. Currently, the allies have already contributed approximately €4 billion to this initiative.