It doesn't appear that Donald Trump is "paying attention" to European reactions regarding Greenland, as in the early hours of Monday morning he wrote on the Truth Social platform that "now is the time and it will happen" for his plans for the United States to take control of the Arctic island.
"For 20 years NATO has been telling Denmark 'you need to remove the Russian threat from Greenland'. Unfortunately, Denmark was unable to do anything about it. Now the time has come and it will happen!!! President Donald Trump," the US president wrote in his tweet.
Trump's post came just hours after Bloomberg reported that European Union member states are discussing several options on how to respond to the US president's threat to impose tariffs, while a proposal to suspend the trade agreement with the US has also been put on the table.
The EU's response was the main topic of the meeting called on Sunday in Brussels by the Cypriot presidency, where ambassadors from member states tried to shape a joint response to Trump's threats.
Later on Sunday, it was announced that European Council President Antonio Costa had called an extraordinary European Council summit, amid the Greenland issue and the threat of tariffs on eight countries, six of which are EU members. The summit is scheduled for Thursday, January 22, according to an EU official and a diplomat familiar with the planning.
One of the proposals that has been discussed, according to international media, is the imposition of tariffs on American products worth 93 billion euros.
Also discussed was the strong use of the Anti-Coercion Instrument, a measure that was originally designed to counter China's scare tactics and that would allow Europe to impose tariffs and investment restrictions on countries that violate the rules.
This instrument offers a wide range of possible countermeasures, including the imposition of tariffs, restrictions on trade in services and on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, as well as restrictions on access to foreign direct investment and public contracts.
French President Emmanuel Macron had even proposed earlier on Sunday that the EU consider using this instrument, although France had avoided using it in the past.
Last year, the EU had approved retaliatory tariffs on US products worth 93 billion euros, but suspended their implementation after reaching a trade agreement between the two sides.
MEPs had proposed over the weekend to postpone the approval of the trade agreement, referring specifically to Trump's latest move.
On Saturday, the US president threatened to impose 10% tariffs on eight European countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland) starting February 1st in response to their actions regarding Greenland. If full annexation is not achieved, the tariffs would increase to 25% from June 1st.
Ursula von der Leyen reacts
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the European Union and the United Kingdom to supporting the sovereignty of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions in the Arctic region.
In a post on the X platform, the Commission President announced that she had discussed the developments regarding Greenland with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as with key European leaders. Specifically, the consultations included British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Ursula von der Leyen emphasized that the European Union remains committed to protecting both economic interests and security issues related to European sovereignty.
"We will always protect our strategic economic interests, as well as our security interests," she declared.
At the end of her post, the President of the European Commission conveyed a message of European unity in the face of the challenges emerging on the international stage.
"We will respond to these challenges to our European solidarity with resilience and determination," she stressed, confirming the EU's willingness to play an active role in the geopolitical developments of the region.
