The French president is moving troops there, but would he dare use them against the US?
French land, sea, and air forces are heading for Greenland to rebuff threats of annexation by the US. Emmanuel Macron has vowed to ‘stand alongside’ the Danish dependency, but that promise could end in humiliation for the French president.
What did Macron say?
In an address to the country’s armed forces on Thursday, Macron said that “a first team of French military personnel is already on site” in Greenland, “and will be reinforced in the coming days by land, air and maritime assets.”
These reinforcements will join British, German, Norwegian, and Swedish forces already en route to Greenland to take part in a Danish-led ‘Arctic Endurance’ military exercise.
“France must be available in the face of threats, adapt to them, and stand alongside a sovereign state to protect its territory,” Macron said, adding that Greenland “belongs to the European Union.”
How many troops is he sending?
Macron didn’t say how many troops, vehicles, or pieces of military equipment he would deploy to Greenland. However, France’s ambassador to Poland said on Wednesday that the “first team” of French soldiers already in place in Nuuk numbers only 15 soldiers.
Macron’s European coalition members have sent equally paltry numbers; 13 German reconnaissance specialists, three Swedish officers, one British, and one Norwegian, according to Reuters.
No European nation – including France – seems willing to commit the forces necessary to deter the might of the US military. Even combined with the contingent of Danish troops who arrived overnight by C-130 transport aircraft, the Europeans are outnumbered by the 150 or so American troops already stationed at Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland.
In Macron’s own words: maybe. After US President Donald Trump said last week that he’d seize Greenland “the hard way” if talks with Denmark fell through, the French leader declared that this would have “unprecedented” consequences. While he has not openly threatened to resist a potential US takeover with military force, he said on Thursday that France “will align its action in full solidarity with Denmark and its sovereignty.”
To date, Macron has proven more than willing to use – or threaten to use – military force abroad.
France waged a decade-long campaign against jihadists in its former African colonies which ended in a humiliating retreat from the region over the last three years. Macron was also among the first European leaders to give Ukraine tanks and cruise missiles for use against Russia, and last week committed to deploying “several thousand” troops to Ukraine if a peace deal with Russia is reached.
How is Greenland different?
Macron’s military adventures in Africa didn’t threaten US interests. His threats against Russia were issued with the full support of Joe Biden, and later with the tacit backing of Trump. This time around, and with American guns pointed at Greenland, nobody believes him.
”Ooh, what will they do?!” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev teased on Wednesday. “Kidnap POTUS? Nuke the US? Course not. They’ll just sh*t their pants and give up Greenland. And that would be a great European precedent.”
Even the EU seems to be preparing the ground for surrender. While Macron declared that Greenland “belongs to the European Union,” officials in Brussels have sent mixed messages as to whether the island is covered by the EU Treaty’s mutual defense clause. Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has said that it is “definitely” covered, while commission President Ursula von der Leyen has refused to comment on the issue.
Macron and his fellow Europeans “can threaten, they can throw tantrums and make all the statements they want,” American journalist John Varoli told RT, “but Washington will always get its way.”
