The collective defense article that the EU has in the drawer to protect Greenland

BrusselsMore and more European countries are showing themselves to be fully prepared to help Denmark in the face of Donald Trump's threats of invasion of Greenland and They are already sending troopsThe intention of these movements is not –a priori– to prepare for a confrontation with the American power, but prevent Washington from trying to seize of Greenlandic territory by force.

However, there is a collective defense article in the European Union treaties that Denmark can activate in case of attack, Article 42.7. "If a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States are obliged to help and assist it by all means at their disposal," the legal text states.

This point in the European treaties, which was added in the 2011 reform, clearly emulates Article 5 of NATO. It was included largely due to pressure from Greece. Athens wanted the EU's military umbrella because of its fear of potential aggression from Turkey, which is part of the Atlantic Alliance but not the European bloc. And, in fact, although with different countries, the possible activation of the article is now being debated in a situation similar to the one Greece feared with Turkey: that one NATO ally attacks another and, since the Atlantic Alliance does not cover this situation, has to resort to the protection that the European Union can offer.

It should be noted, however, that the treaties also contain a nuance whereby some member states might not come to Denmark's aid in exceptional circumstances. "This should not prejudge the specific nature of the security and defense policy of some member states," the treaties state. In practice, this opens the door for some traditionally neutral countries, such as Ireland and Sweden, to remain outside the collective security commitment.

Legal Doubts

However, the case of Greenland presents a legal question that could be key to a potential application of Article 42.7. Despite being part of the Danish state, Greenland is not a member of the European Union, and therefore there are legal doubts as to whether it can benefit from the protection offered by the European bloc's collective defense commitment. In Brussels, however, this issue doesn't seem to concern them much, since Denmark is an EU member state and can therefore activate the article, even if only to defend Greenland. In fact, the European Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, assumed that Article 42.7 can be activated in the event of aggression by a third country, such as the United States against Denmark, and asserted that the other member states have an obligation to assist any European partner that has been the victim of an attack.

However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was not as clear as the Defense Commissioner and, when asked about the potential application of this article, responded in a completely ambiguous manner. The German conservative merely insisted that Denmark and Greenland "can count on the support" of the European Union, but avoided warning the Trump administration that, in the event of military aggression, the European bloc could join forces to prevent it.

In any case, as Kubilius reminded everyone on Monday, the article is not automatically activated when a member state is attacked, so potential contributions depend on the requests made by Denmark. "It will depend largely on Denmark, on how it reacts and what its position is, although member states certainly have an obligation to provide mutual assistance," noted the European Commission's Defense Commissioner.

To date, the article has only been activated once, at France's request following the 2015 Islamist attack in Paris. Charlie HebdoThe contributions of European partners to the country that is the victim of an attack are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and a decade ago the French government asked for an increase in the number of soldiers and resources in Operation Sentinel against the Islamic State: 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police officers were mobilized.