Pressure from the United States is mounting on Denmark and Europe as a whole to allow the acquisition of Greenland. If successful, the purchase of the 836,000 square miles of the giant Arctic island would be larger than the the Luisiana Pruchase of 1803 in size, per which the US gained ‘only’ 828,000 square miles of land.
However, thus far, the European Union does not seem to be in the mood for bargaining.
On Saturday, 17 January, the European Commission and the EU Council released a joint statement in which they declared that ‘Territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law. They are essential for Europe and for the international community as a whole,’ and that ‘the EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland,’ while also maintaining that ‘dialogue remains essential, and we are committed to building on the process begun already last week between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US.’
There is one Member State that refused to support the joint statement: Hungary.
At a press conference in Prague, Czechia, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó of Hungary has stated that he believes the potential Greenland purchase is ‘a bilateral issue between the United States and Denmark’, and the EU should not get involved as a whole.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary has claimed that the issue should be resolved within NATO.
To push the matter, President Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on goods coming into the US from Europe, which he is willing hike up as high as 25 per cent if the purchase of Greenland is not agreed to by 1 June.
In early 2025, Trump raised tariff rates on the vast majority of US trading partners, including the European Union, which caused massive sell-offs in stock markets around the world. Markets first stabilized, then started to gain again after new, lower tariff rates were set by the US under new international trade agreements. However, the President’s unilateral power to set tariff rates through the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is currently being considered by the US Supreme Court.
Prime Minister Orbán is not President Trump’s only ally within the European Union.
While Slovakia did not object to the EU’s joint statement on Greenland, Prime Minister Robert Fico was with President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, just days after it was released. However, he did not talk to the press about the issue of the Greenland purchase after his visit.
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