On her second visit to Greenland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wanted to take EU relations with Denmark’s autonomous territory, which left the European Economic Community in 1985, to a new level.
“The message I was given (editor’s note: in 2024) was very clear. Do not let this visit be symbolic and a one-off, make it substantive and deliver real results,” she said on Monday 7 September. “I am happy to say today (this Monday) I am back to deliver [...] concrete results”.
At the end of a two-day stay, the Commission President, alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, presented several developments: a new joint declaration, a €200 million investment package for 2026 and 2027, and double the European support in the next EU budget.
Broader cooperation. Central to these announcements, the new joint declaration updates the one adopted in 2015, broadening the sectors of cooperation. “We face new challenges that we can’t tackle alone. It calls for an even stronger, closer strategic partnership”, Jens-Frederik Nielsen summed up. The text adds new areas of cooperation to traditional sectors of the relationship, such as fisheries and education, like infrastructure development, green growth, and connectivity.
Faced with the effects of climate change and rising tensions in the Arctic, the cooperation also emphasises civil protection and resilience, particularly in terms of “countering hybrid threats, foreign information manipulation and interference”. Symbolising the more security-oriented dimension of this trip, the three leaders boarded the Thetis, a Royal Danish Navy vessel tasked with patrolling the area.
Stronger investment. The €200 million package announced for 2026 and 2027 focuses on three main areas: connectivity, clean energy, and critical raw materials. As for the first element, the aim is to improve internet connectivity through satellites.
In terms of energy, the Commission intends to support new hydropower capacity in order to reduce dependence on imports. The section on critical raw materials occupies an important place. It highlights two sites: the Malmbjerg molybdenum project, and the graphite project developed by GreenRoc, two strategic materials required for batteries and defence.
The Commission wants to strengthen its support for Nuuk beyond 2027. In the next EU budget, it proposes doubling Greenland’s funding to €530 million between 2028-2034.
In the visit’s final announcement, Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that a revised version of the EU’s Arctic policy would be presented in the autumn. The region “has become one of the places where the tectonic plates of geopolitics collide”, she stressed. This policy “will set out our vision for the Arctic and for a stronger partnership with Europe's northern neighbourhood”.
See the joint declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/nbk (Original version in French by Louis Dubar)