One possible way to ease the current political tensions between Denmark and the United States over the future of Greenland could be to establish a NATO-led mission called "Arctic Guardian."
This idea was born when the ambassadors of the military alliance gathered in Brussels on January 8 to discuss the issue of Greenland, the Danish island, after the White House expressed interest in the United States acquiring it, even not ruling out military intervention to achieve this goal.
NATO has already established two similar missions in 2025: first “Baltic Guard,” in response to numerous underwater sabotage attacks in Northern Europe, and then “East Guard,” which was created shortly after a major Russian drone incursion occurred in Poland.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak to the media after meeting with senior US officials. Washington, January 14, 2026.
These two "guards" are still ongoing. They are also considered major successes, according to NATO officials who spoke to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) on condition of anonymity.
But could something similar happen around and perhaps within Greenland?
Belgium's Defense Minister, Theo Francken, has publicly supported the idea, while London and Berlin are increasingly open to it.
At the meeting in Brussels, there was consensus that NATO should increase its engagement in the Arctic region.
"Canada has been shouting for years about the need to increase efforts in the High North, so we can't say that Washington is the first to bring this to the table," said a European diplomat.
Seven of the eight so-called Arctic countries are members of NATO, excluding Russia. And while the waters around Greenland are not currently filled with Russian and Chinese ships, that could change as Arctic ice melts rapidly and new sea lanes open up.
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR) and top US general in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, recently stressed at a military conference in Sweden that Russian and Chinese ships "are not studying seals and polar bears."
He added that the ships "are conducting bathymetric studies and trying to understand how they can counter NATO capabilities above and below the sea. This is something that could grow very quickly, and we need to be vigilant and ready."
At the same time, Grynkewich added that any NATO mission at this time is "premature."
Speaking in Berlin earlier this week about a possible "Arctic Guard" mission, Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also stressed that such an initiative would take months.
However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is engaged in talks with Washington about how the alliance can increase its commitment, one way or another.
European diplomats have told REL that the "Arctic Guardian" initiative would perhaps refute the argument that Greenland should belong to the United States and that it would prove that Europe can cope with two fronts simultaneously: Russia in the east and Russia and China in the Arctic.
"In many ways, this is also about burden-sharing," one of them said, adding that a possible scenario could include aerial and maritime surveillance by Europeans, and an increased US troop presence in Greenland.
The United States has 200 personnel at a base in Greenland, engaged in ballistic missile early warning and space surveillance. During the Cold War, however, the island had up to 10,000 American troops spread across 17 bases.
A "loaded rifle"
This was based on a 1951 agreement between Copenhagen and Washington, which allows the United States to have military assets, including bases, for as long as NATO exists. This treaty remains in force and places no restrictions on the US military presence, although it still requires Danish consent, which it would likely give.
This would also pave the way for the US to use Greenland in its "Golden Dome" missile defense program, which US President Donald Trump has mentioned when talking about the giant island.
What European countries would do would be to focus on protecting the airspace and sea lanes of what is known as the “GIUK gap,” meaning the vast area between Greenland on one side and Ireland and the United Kingdom on the other.
This gap has been described as a "loaded rifle" facing the United States because it is an entry point for actors like Moscow and Beijing to carry out various actions, from underwater sabotage to land invasions, according to one source.
The countries likely to contribute are mainly the United Kingdom and France, but also countries such as Denmark, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain, as they all have naval assets.
This, of course, would require several types of ships, notably cruisers and frigates, but also submarines and especially icebreakers. Together, the alliance has only about 40 of these, fewer than Russia, although there are efforts to produce more.
The alliance's defense chiefs are expected to discuss this in more detail when they meet in Brussels on January 21-22, and then again when NATO defense ministers gather in the Belgian capital on February 12.
Practical obstacles
Megjithatë, ka edhe hezitim brenda aleancës nëse misioni “Roja e Arktikut” është i realizueshëm. Ka shumë pengesa praktike. Për shembull, do të duheshin qindra anije për ta mbuluar një zonë kaq të madhe, përfshirë mjete që furnizojnë anijet ushtarake.
Përveç vendeve nordike dhe Kanadasë, ka pak trupa që kanë përvojë në veprimin në kushte të ashpra arktike. Prandaj, në operacionin e tanishëm të udhëhequr nga Danimarka, “Operacioni Qëndrueshmëria e Arktikut”, në dhe rreth Grenlandës, marrin pjesë trupa nga Kanadaja, Franca, Gjermania, Holanda dhe Norvegjia.
Dhe, ndonëse jo të gjithë duhet të kontribuojnë, të gjithë duhet ta japin pëlqimin për të nisur një mision të tillë.
Po amerikanët, do të pajtohen me këtë?
Në takimin e ambasadorëve të NATO-s më 8 janar, Danimarka dhe Shtetet e Bashkuara u pajtuan se kjo është çështje dypalëshe, tani për tani.
Kjo e nxiti një takim në Uashington më 14 janar mes ministrave të Jashtëm të Danimarkës, Grenlandës dhe Shteteve të Bashkuara, i organizuar nga nënpresidenti amerikan JD Vance.
Ministri i Jashtëm i Danimarkës, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, theksoi pas takimit se Shtetet e Bashkuara nuk e kishin ndryshuar qëndrimin e tyre për Grenlandën, por gjithashtu shtoi se do të ngrihet një grup punues i nivelit të lartë me zyrtarë amerikanë dhe danezë për t’i shtjelluar çështjet në javët në vijim.
Në Bruksel, kjo shihet si një shenjë se mund të ketë “marrëveshje” që i përshtatet të gjithëve, me një rol të zgjeruar të NATO-s.
Derisa ekziston frika për një ndërhyrje ushtarake, shumica e atyre me të cilët ka folur REL-i ende e shohin këtë si “të pamundur” dhe besojnë se presidenti amerikan po përdor të njëjtën taktikë të fortë negociuese që përdori kur siguroi angazhimin për shpenzime në mbrojtje prej 5 për qind nga të gjithë aleatët në samitin e Hagës vitin e kaluar.
Tani bëhet fjalë që evropianët të shpenzojnë më shumë dhe më shpejt, dhe të mos përqendrohen vetëm në krahun e tyre lindor./REL
