Europe's move: France says it's working with allies on plan to respond to Trump's threats over Greenland

The announcement comes after the White House said on Tuesday that the use of the US military is an option considered by Washington to take over the Arctic island, writes Reuters.

France is working with its partners to draw up a plan on how it should react should the US carry out its threat to seize control of Greenland, a minister in Paris said on Wednesday.

The news comes in the context in which Europe tries to find a solution to the ambitions of US President Donald Trump in the region.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the issue would be addressed at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland later on Wednesday.

“We want to take action, but we want to do it together with our European partners,” he told France Inter radio.

The leaders of major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland this week, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people, following a fresh threat from Trump to seize control of the territory.

What Trump wants, what Rubio says in private

Trump has repeated in recent days that he wants to take control of Greenland, an idea first expressed in 2019 during his first term as president.

He argued that the island was vital to the US military and that Denmark had not done enough to protect it.

The White House said on Tuesday that Trump was discussing several options for purchasing Greenland, including the possible use of the US military.

But Barrot suggested that a US military operation had been ruled out by a senior US official.

“I myself spoke on the phone yesterday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (…), who confirmed that this was not the approach taken … he ruled out the possibility of an invasion (of Greenland),” he said.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rubio also told US congressmen that the US intention is to buy Greenland, and not to use force, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Greenland said no

But the weekend US military operation that captured Venezuela's leader has reignited concerns that Greenland could face a similar scenario.

Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said they do not want to be part of the United States — a position supported by opinion polls.

The world's largest island, with a population of just 57,000, Greenland is not an independent member of NATO, but is covered by Denmark's membership in the Western alliance.

The island is strategically located between Europe and North America – a crucial position for the US ballistic missile defense system for decades. Its mineral wealth provides an additional reason for the US to reduce its dependence on China.

Denmark's firm reaction

The Danish government responded by repeatedly suggesting that the US could station more troops in Greenland and obtain new and improved mining rights.

To address Trump's concerns about Arctic security, Denmark has invested in the island's security infrastructure and said it plans to spend billions of dollars on new weapons such as ships and planes.

But Trump ridiculed the measures on Sunday, saying Copenhagen was in effect buying “another dog sled”.

Fears of aggressive action by America spread across Europe, with six of the continent's leaders joining Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in an unusual joint statement on Tuesday calling for the United States to work “collectively” with allies to address Arctic security concerns.

But Frederiksen was much more direct and blunt on Monday, telling local broadcaster DR that “everything would end” if the US attacked a NATO country to seize Greenland.

“The international community as we know it, the democratic rules of the game, NATO, the strongest defensive alliance in the world – all of that would collapse if one NATO country chose to attack another country,” she said.