A plan to annex Greenland announced by U.S. President Donald Trump is shaking Europe's security landscape. Since Brexit in 2020, the United Kingdom, which had been pushed out of Europe-led security discussions, has seized this as an opportunity to tighten bonds with European allies. The U.K. and Europe have begun in earnest a plan to use the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) framework to reclaim leadership in the Arctic.
The British government has recently been closely discussing with NATO allies ways to expand its military presence in the Arctic. It is a measure rolled out to respond after President Trump signaled his intention to take control of Greenland. According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 11th (local time), U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued an official statement saying he is "taking extremely seriously" Russia's expanding military activities in the High North, the high-latitude Arctic region.
Prime Minister Starmer is seeking to persuade President Trump with the argument that even without the United States annexing Greenland, security can be sufficiently strengthened at the NATO level. Citing an anonymous government official, the FT reported, "We are continuing discussions with NATO to reinforce security in the region," and "We are strengthening cooperation with NATO allies to bolster Arctic deterrence and defense capabilities."
Britain's security reality after Brexit was isolation itself. With its departure from the European Union (EU), it also left the joint defense and defense industry cooperation framework Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Although it kept its status as a NATO member, it was pushed to the periphery in most Europe-led security discussions. In this situation, President Trump's remarks became a turning point. By simultaneously provoking Denmark, the EU, and the U.K., they shifted the Greenland issue from a sovereignty dispute to a collective defense frame.
Instead of returning to the EU defense structure, the U.K. chose a detour of strengthening NATO's Arctic defense. It also devised concrete implementation measures. In March, Britain will deploy 1,500 Royal Marines to the NATO Cold Response exercise held in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The exercise is a military drill Norway hosts biennially with NATO allies. The U.K. plans to take part in the joint exercise to again showcase allied unity and prove its real contribution in the Arctic.
The EU is also moving quickly. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defined the Greenland issue as a task that Europe and NATO must shoulder together. The EU made clear that Greenland's residents must have the right to decide for themselves. In the next joint budget, support for Greenland will be doubled to about €530 million (about 755 billion won) from the current level. This is seen as an intention to rein in U.S. unilateralism by putting money and norms first.
The Arctic region encompassing Greenland is not simply ice-covered land. It is a strategic chokepoint where Arctic sea routes, early missile warning systems, and submarine operating areas intertwine. Russia has already elevated the Arctic to a key theater. In 2021, it showcased an expanded operational radius by flying domestically made MiG fighters from its northernmost military base to the North Pole and back, and in the same year, it upgraded the Northern Fleet to the level of a military district to establish an Arctic-dedicated command structure. In 2024, it conducted a live-fire exercise of nuclear submarine cruise missiles in the Barents Sea bordering Norway. Coupled with the invasion of Ukraine, security threats in Europe, centered on the Arctic, have resurfaced.
Tensions over the Arctic are expected to tighten further. The EU is leading with budgets and norms, while the U.K. is responding by deploying actual forces, each in its own way. Britain is seeking to reenter as a central pillar in Europe's security order with this episode. Rather than distancing itself from the United States, it appears to be focusing on practical force enhancement through cooperation via NATO. Experts assessed that "President Trump's pressure on Greenland has, paradoxically, strengthened Europe's cohesion and expanded Britain's standing."
However, in terms of core military power, both Europe and Britain still depend entirely on the United States. On the 7th, President Trump said on social media, "Russia and China are not afraid at all of NATO without the United States." The key question is how much political and diplomatic leadership Europe can reclaim in a structure where the United States remains the guarantor of deterrence and military power within NATO.
Military experts advised that Europe must take to heart this episode, which revealed a realistic capability gap even as it calls for self-reliant defense. Ultimately, Arctic security is likely to be decided not by a simple territorial dispute but by how effectively the NATO alliance builds a practical defensive shield.
Former U.K. Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson asked the BBC, "Is Europe prepared with the radar, anti-missile systems, and air defenses to protect Greenland and the Arctic?" and noted, "In reality it is not, so in the end it has no choice but to rely on the United States." The former ambassador added, "President Trump will not seize Greenland by force, but an era has come in which discussion and negotiation are inevitable over the role the United States plays in Greenland."