Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius (SPD), said that the United States still offers no certainty that it can resolve the Greenland crisis with Donald Trump and urged Europeans to remain fearless toward the president. “The unpredictability is becoming ever more unpredictable” he told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” on Saturday. When pressed whether Trump’s annexation plans for the Danish‑governed island had been neutralised by agreements with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Pistorius answered simply, “We don’t know”.
Pistorius recalled that a month ago few had considered that the president might use military force over Greenland. He described the “curiosity” of the Greenland pact with Rutte as the fact that there is literally nothing to be agreed upon. The 1951 treaty between the United States and Denmark remains in force, allowing the U.S. to deploy or redeploy troops on Greenland at any time.
The minister praised Europe’s confident response to Trump’s tariff threats linked to his Greenland annexation plans. “This spirit should guide us in the future” he said. “Trump relies on uncertainty and fear to achieve his aims, but those who are afraid make wrong decisions – so we refuse to be intimidated”.
Pistorius expressed confidence that “the U.S. wants Europe the way Europe wants it”. He pointed to the U.S. air base at Ramstein as the most important U.S. Army Air Forces outpost outside the United States, noting that America also “has an interest in our close partnership”.
He added that there is no indication the United States intends to leave NATO and that the nuclear umbrella is not being challenged in the new defence strategy. Pistorius warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in driving the U.S. out of Europe, “Europe will become part of Russia’s sphere of influence”. He added, “Then the U.S. would be trapped between Russia and China, which is not to our benefit”.