Intalik Jalál Milne

It increasingly looks like the loss of Greenland for Denmark and Europe is becoming likely, and if it happens, it would be a serious blow to Europe’s political and economic future. The USA appears ready to sign a direct agreement with the government of Greenland, effectively throwing the ball to Denmark and Europe, who are now at risk of watching it fly past them with no racquet ready to send it back. Let’s be honest: Denmark’s options are extremely limited. The most obvious response would be to offer more money and investment to Greenlanders in exchange for loyalty. That would look awkward at best, if not insulting. “You mean we could have had all this, but you hid it from us all this time?” The American offer, by contrast, is not primarily economic. It is a promise of national pride, wealth, and independence, or more accurately, a short-lived illusion of all three. Just as with Ukraine, a country rich in minerals and natural resources that was willing to align with Europe, Europe waited too long. Only when Ukraine was barely holding on did it end up forced into a deeply asymmetric mineral deal with the USA in exchange for very little. In the same way, clear signs of Trump’s interest in Greenland were visible since his first term, yet real action was postponed and decisions were procrastinated well into his second term, shrinking Europe’s room to maneuver. As a result, Europe now finds itself increasingly dependent on others for energy resources, critical minerals, and even raw ore, while being squeezed between Russian and American imperial ambitions, with information warfare eroding cohesion from within. At this point, Ukraine’s ability to stop Russia still matters enormously, but even a Ukrainian success would not automatically reverse Europe’s broader strategic drift. This is not yet a point of no return, but the window is closing fast. Without timely and uncomfortable decisions, what follows is not sudden collapse, but a slow and visible loss of agency and drift into poverty that will be far harder to reverse later.