Poland urges NATO unity amid Trump’s Greenland escalation

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Poland’s foreign minister on Wednesday warned that Europe cannot allow a dispute over Greenland to fracture NATO, after President Donald Trump repeated threats to take the autonomous Danish territory by force if necessary.

Speaking on national radio, Radoslaw Sikorski insisted that Warsaw would “do everything in our power to avoid a division within NATO,” calling Denmark a “key ally” and stressing that the alliance is dependent on the US for nuclear deterrence and intelligence.

Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has pushed to acquire Greenland, pitching it as a strategic necessity against Russia and China, and which the US cannot allow to fall into “hostile hands.” The rhetoric hardened further after US forces captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.

Sikorski was careful not to dismiss American concerns outright. The US, he said, already enjoys near-total operational freedom on the island, and could easily reinforce its presence from the roughly 150 troops now stationed there.

If the threat is a Russian or Chinese incursion, Sikorski said, NATO allies could reassure the US by ramping up joint exercises and signaling collective defense.

But the Polish minister drew a red line around Trump’s talk of territorial acquisition, a step that could shatter treaty norms underpinning the post-war alliance. “Without the United States, NATO lacks key capabilities,” he said, “but we will do everything in our power to prevent division.”