French President Emmanuel Macron said a recent standoff with the United States over Greenland should serve as a strategic warning for Europe, urging stronger sovereignty and security cooperation across the continent.
Speaking in Paris alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Wednesday, Macron said the episode highlighted the need for Europe to stand on its own as Washington unsettles long-standing alliances. European governments, he added, must respond collectively after US President Donald Trump threatened to seize Greenland, a move that rattled the transatlantic partnership.
Macron stressed that Europe’s “awakening” should focus on asserting European sovereignty, strengthening Arctic security, countering foreign interference and disinformation, and addressing climate change. He reaffirmed France’s solidarity with Denmark and Greenland, pledging support for their sovereignty and territorial integrity in line with the United Nations Charter. French President also voiced backing for a stronger NATO role in the Arctic, saying France would stand “side by side” with Denmark.
Calls to strengthen security
After firm European pushback, Trump later backed down from the threat to use military force to take Greenland. Still, the episode intensified debate over Europe’s reliance on the United States for defence.
Earlier, Frederiksen said Europe must urgently bolster its military capabilities to reduce dependence on Washington. Responding to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s warning that Europe could not defend itself without the US, she admitted such autonomy would be “extremely difficult” at present, particularly given reliance on American intelligence and nuclear deterrence.
However, she argued Europe could do more than it publicly acknowledges and warned that waiting until 2035 to raise defence spending would be too late. Rearmament, she said, must begin immediately.
Budget cuts under scrutiny
Frederiksen concluded that Europe had made a serious mistake by cutting defence budgets in past decades, leaving the continent vulnerable amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.
