(LONDON) — The heads of all 27 European Union member states will gather in Brussels on Thursday for what the body is calling an “extraordinary” summit regarding the recent crisis in transatlantic relations prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland.
European leaders “will discuss recent developments in transatlantic relations and their implications for the EU and coordinate on the way forward,” a notice posted to the website of the European Council — the body made up of EU national leaders — said.
The meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time, comes after several weeks of tensions between the U.S. and its European allies over the fate of Greenland, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark which Trump has repeatedly said — across both his first and second terms in office — that he wants to acquire for the U.S.
The issue has dominated this week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Trump addressed the event on Wednesday, swinging between apparent threats against NATO allies over Greenland while also ruling out the use of military force to seize the massive Arctic island.
Trump described Greenland as a “piece of ice” and framed his proposed acquisition of the territory — which he several times incorrectly referred to as Iceland, though the White House denied that he misspoke — as payment for decades of U.S. contributions to NATO and European security.
Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte after his address. Later, Trump wrote on social media that the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland had been reached on Greenland.
The president said he would shelve plans to impose tariffs on eight NATO allies who deployed small numbers of troops to Greenland earlier this month — a threat that prompted fierce criticism from European leaders and raised the prospect of a transatlantic trade war.
Neither Trump nor Rutte immediately revealed the details of the purported deal. Trump told CNN that the U.S. got “everything we wanted,” while Rutte told Fox News that the issue of Greenland’s sovereignty “did not come up” in his meeting with the president.
A NATO spokesperson told ABC News that trilateral talks between the U.S., Greenland and Denmark were ongoing.
Rutte told Reuters on Thursday, “We came to this understanding that collectively as NATO, we have to step up here, including the U.S.”
Rutte said that minerals exploitation in Greenland was not discussed during his talks with Trump on Wednesday, and that specific negotiations relating to Greenland will continue between Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk.
“You can always take Donald Trump at his word,” Rutte said. “He is the leader of the free world, and he is doing what I would love for a leader of the free world to do.”
On Thursday morning, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that Copenhagen and Nuuk have been coordinating on discussions over Greenland. Denmark was in “close dialogue with NATO” and with Rutte before the latter’s meeting with Trump, she said.
“NATO is fully aware of the position of the Kingdom of Denmark. We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty,” the prime minister said.
“I have been informed that this has not been the case either. And of course, only Denmark and Greenland themselves can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland,” Frederiksen said.
A European Council spokesperson told ABC News there had been “no change in the agenda” for Thursday’s meeting in Brussels following Trump’s announcement of a possible deal.
In a statement on the Council’s website, the body’s President Antonio Costa said that the key topics for discussions on Thursday will include “unity around the principles of international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty” and “unity in full support and solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.”
Also to be discussed, Costa said, are a “shared transatlantic interest in peace and security in the Arctic, notably through NATO” and “concern that further tariffs would undermine relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.”
“The EU wants to continue engaging constructively with the United States on all issues of common interest,” the statement said.
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