Trump’s threat triggered an compact response from a group of European allies on Sunday, 18 January 2026, after USA President Donald Trump said he would impose 10% import tariffs on eight countries unless the USA is allowed to purchase Greenland.
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement backing the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland’s population, while EU officials and national leaders signalled that trade countermeasures are on the table.
Joint statement: NATO allies back Denmark and Greenland
In their coordinated declaration, the eight countries framed the dispute primarily as a NATO issue — and as a matter of sovereignty rather than trade bargaining.
As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish exercise „Arctic Endurance“ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.
We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind.
Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.
The statement stresses that, as NATO members, the signatories are “committed to strengthening security in the Arctic as a shared transatlantic interest”, and argues that Denmark’s pre-coordinated exercise “Arctic Endurance”, conducted with allies, “poses no threat to anyone”. They add that they stand “in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland” and are ready to engage in dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The most pointed line, however, is aimed directly at the tariff threat: the signatories warn that “tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk creating a dangerous negative spiral”. They say their response will remain “united and coordinated”, and conclude with a political bottom line: they are “determined to safeguard our sovereignty”.
EU crisis talks and the anti-coercion instrument option
While the joint statement includes Norway and the United Kingdom, the European Union is expected to play a central role if the dispute turns into a trade confrontation.
According to Finnish public broadcaster Yle, EU countries planned emergency discussions on Sunday in response to Trump’s warning. In Helsinki, Prime Minister (pääministeri) Petteri Orpo said that stopping the threat from materialising requires “concrete action” and “clear limits on what is acceptable and what is not”, adding that Europe must be ready for trade-policy countermeasures if the USA proceeds.
President Emmanuel Macron’s team pointed to the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, the bloc’s new tool designed to respond when a third country uses economic pressure to influence policy choices. In practice, the instrument can enable the EU to impose a range of restrictions — from limits on market access to curbs on certain investments — though it has never been tested in a confrontation of this political scale.
At the European Parliament, centre-right leader Manfred Weber said his group would not support a broader EU–USA trade agreement under the current circumstances, arguing that the political environment created by Greenland-related threats makes approval impossible.
National messages: Orpo, Meloni and Klingbeil reject “blackmail”
Beyond the joint statement, several national leaders and ministers used unusually direct language about Trump’s linkage of tariffs to Greenland.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — often seen as one of the European leaders most attentive to maintaining working relations with the White House — called the latest tariff threat “a mistake” and said she had spoken directly with Trump to convey her view, while also consulting other European leaders.
In Berlin, Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said Germany and its European partners would not allow themselves to be “pressured”. He presented the message as a dual-track approach: openness to dialogue with the USA, paired with a refusal to accept tariff threats as leverage in a dispute over territory.
Frederiksen says a USA–Europe trade war would help Russia
Danish Prime Minister (statsministeren) Mette Frederiksen warned that “no one wins from a potential trade war between the USA and Europe” — “except perhaps our opponents and enemies around the world,” she added, arguing that a confrontation would be welcomed by actors such as Russia.
Frederiksen said a trade conflict would hit both sides’ economies, insisting that “it is not us who are escalating”. “We do not want any conflict,” she said, adding that Denmark will do everything it can “within democracy’s rules of the game” to find solutions.
Sánchez warns about NATO fallout and Russia
Spain is not among the eight countries singled out by Trump, but Madrid has been vocal in warning about the strategic consequences of any USA escalation around Greenland.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that a USA invasion of Greenland would have serious implications for international security and would “make Vladimir Putin the happiest man in the world” by legitimising Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. He also warned that a military move of that kind could become a “death sentence” for NATO — a comment that underlines how quickly the Greenland dispute is spilling into broader questions about alliance credibility.confrontation.
