01/16/2026
Fifteen French mountain infantry soldiers marched onto a runway late Wednesday and boarded a bus labeled “Greenland Excursions,” their first step in a mission to deter a U.S. invasion of the Arctic island.
At an air base 200 miles north, a Danish C-130 military plane unloaded Swedish troops, while a 13-person German Army reconnaissance team mobilized for a two-day deployment.
A small yet unprecedented buildup of European military and diplomatic assets is unfolding in the High North, where America’s closest allies are trying to raise the price for Greenland. Their goal is in part to show the U.S. that Greenland won’t be “easy prey,” as one senior European official put it.
It is a first for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: European members are sending troops to a friendly territory in the hopes of deterring their biggest ally from launching military action.
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