Greenland Special Emergency Summit, EU Feels Betrayed by the US?
European leaders said they felt betrayed by the United States (US) ahead of an EU emergency summit in Brussels, Belgium, today Thursday, January 22.
Politico reported that before this meeting dedicated to discussing Greenland and the future of the EU's relationship with the US, European leaders began to lose confidence in the US.
"We are experiencing a major rift in the world order. Trust has been lost," said one European diplomat, considered a key US ally in the EU, to Politico.
The media also noted that European politicians do not believe the statements of US President Donald Trump who intends not to use the US Armed Forces to establish control over Greenland. The annexation of Greenland is also strongly opposed by alliance countries.
Separately, an EU diplomat said the split "became apparent because of the threat of trade tariffs against the EU following the EU's stance on Greenland.
EU politicians view the EU emergency summit as "therapy", which will give EU leaders the opportunity to provide a concrete response to Trump's speech at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Two EU diplomats, in conversations with Politico, compared the current situation to the period before World War II. "I think we've passed Munich now. We realize that the policy of peace is no longer the right policy," said one source.
As is known, in September 1938, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy agreed to the Munich Agreement, which regulated the division of Czechoslovakia. However, Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany and lost its state sovereignty in March 1939.
Previously, in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to annex Greenland, a Danish autonomous region. However, to achieve this goal, Trump admitted that the US would not use violence.
He then threatened that the tariff relaxation for European countries that support Greenland would not be implemented again starting February 1, 2026.
Trump also said that the US had been "very foolish" to return Greenland to Denmark after World War II.
He added that the US intends to annex Greenland from Denmark in order to deploy a large-scale Golden Dome missile defense system and expand its migration policy in the European Union.