Deutschland schickt Bundeswehrsoldaten nach Grönland
www.t-online.de
Um die militärische Präsenz in Grönland zu erhöhen, startet Dänemark eine Nato-Übung in der Region. Jetzt ist klar: Auch Deutschland beteiligt sich daran.

Translated using Firefox translate:

Conflict with Trump – Germany sends soldiers to Greenland

To increase the military presence in Greenland, Denmark is launching a NATO exercise in the region. Now it is clear: Germany is also participating in it.

Germany sends soldiers of the Bundeswehr to Greenland. “We are participating in a NATO-led exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’,” government circles confirmed t-online. First, “Bild” had reported. The Ministry of Defense said in the evening that on Thursday morning, 13 Bundeswehr soldiers will set off for a fact-finding mission to Greenland. A crisis meeting in Washington the day before has ended inconclusively, US President Donald Trump is sticking to his claim to Greenland, according to Danish data.

The exploration team is to be brought to Nuuk in Greenland with an Airbus A400M transport aircraft. The fact-finding mission will take place on the ground “together with representatives of other partner nations,” it said. The aim is to explore the framework conditions for “possible military contributions to support Denmark in ensuring the security of the region.” The mission is scheduled to take place from 15 to 17. Last January.

First European soldiers landed on the island as early as the night of Thursday. According to a report in the “Bild”, a Hercules military aircraft of the Danish army arrived at the civilian airport of the capital Nuuk. In addition to Danish soldiers, French soldiers are said to have been on board. Another Danish plane apparently landed at the Danish base of Kangerlussuaq.

Republicans against Greenland plans: Trump didn’t expect that

According to government circles, the focus of the deployment should be the maritime space reconnaissance. A few months ago, the Bundeswehr commissioned the new maritime remote scout Poseidon P-8A. The modern warplane monitors sea lanes and specializes in submarine hunting. Last October, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also announced plans to temporarily deploy Poseidon aircraft in Iceland to strengthen security in the region. But now the Poseidon – so far only one of eight ordered aircraft has been delivered – could also be used in Greenland at a later date, it says. The 13-member fact-finding mission should therefore also examine possible landing sites in Greenland.

The fact-finding mission is under Danish leadership. This is according to a joint communication from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Greenland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Research. This is done in connection with military exercises with both aircraft, ships and soldiers – and in close cooperation with NATO allies.

Reason for the exercise: “security tensions”

The aim is to train the ability to deploy in the special conditions in the Arctic and to strengthen the presence of the defence alliance. According to the communication, the exercise activities could include the support of Greenland authorities such as the police, the monitoring of systemically important facilities, the use of fighter aircraft in and Greenland, the resolution of naval tasks and the reception of Allied troops. The reason for this is that “security tensions have extended into the Arctic.”

The conflict over Greenland threatens to divide NATO. A meeting of senior U.S., Denmark and Greenland officials in Washington did not bring a solution. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen said afterwards that Trump wanted to continue to “conquer” Greenland. Rasmussen spoke alongside his Greenland colleague Vivian Motzfeldt. Both had previously consulted with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the grounds of the White House. Trump himself expressed unusually conciliatory after the conversation, which took place without his participation. The U.S. has “a very good relationship with Denmark,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think something will happen.”

Shortly before, he had reaffirmed the United States’ claim to ownership of Greenland. The U.S. must control Greenland, everything else is “unacceptable,” the US president stressed. The vast Arctic island is vital to the construction of the U.S. missile defence shield “Golden Dome,” Trump wrote in his online service Truth Social. Trump had also grounded his claim geopolitically in the past few days: “If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will do it, and I will not allow that,” he said. The US president did not rule out military resources. Greens welcome Bundeswehr mission

The Greens welcome the Bundeswehr deployment. That’s a strong symbol," defence expert Sara Nanni told the Rheinische Post. The talks in Washington would not have led to US President Donald Trump giving up his territorial claims.

“It would therefore be important that this military gesture of solidarity with Denmark is supplemented by tangible diplomatic threats to the White House. Only then can Trump be stopped from his madness,” Nanni said. Chancellor Friedrich Merz must make it clear that it would have consequences for the US if it continued to ignite cohesion in NATO by questioning the territorial integrity of a member state.