Finland

United States President Donald Trump has promised to steadily increase tariffs on European countries that have opposed his move to acquire Greenland, escalating a dispute over the semiautonomous Danish territory he has long coveted.

So what is behind Trump’s push to control Greenland, the world’s largest island, and how have Washington’s NATO allies responded?

What is Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland?

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump wrote that he has subsidised Denmark and other European Union countries by not charging them tariffs.

“Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back – World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.”

Trump added that “the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake.”

Trump wrote that starting on February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will be charged a 10 percent tariff on all their exports to the US.

On June 1, the tariff is to be increased to 25 percent, he said. “This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump wrote.

Trump additionally wrote: “The United States has been trying to do this transaction for over 150 years. Many Presidents have tried, and for good reason, but Denmark has always refused.”

Is Trump the first US president to seek control of Greenland?

Leaders in Denmark and Greenland have consistently insisted that Greenland is not for sale. In the past few days, Greenlanders have been protesting against Trump’s wishes to acquire Greenland. Yet Trump has pushed for acquiring the Arctic territory since his first term, and he is not the first US president to pursue such a purchase.

After buying Alaska from Russia in 1867, then-Secretary of State William H Seward unsuccessfully sought to buy Greenland. During World War II, the US occupied Greenland after Germany’s invasion of Denmark and built military and radio facilities there. It maintains a permanent presence today at the Pituffik Space Base in the northwest.

In 1946, while Greenland was still a Danish colony, President Harry S Truman secretly offered Denmark $100m for the island, but Copenhagen refused. The proposal became public only in 1991.

American citizens do not support Washington acquiring Greenland, polls have indicated. This week, a Reuters/Ipsos poll of US residents showed less than one in five respondents support the idea of acquiring Greenland.

Why does Trump want Greenland?

The location and natural resources of the island make it strategically important for Washington.

Greenland is geographically part of North America, located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean. It is home to 56,000 residents, mostly Indigenous Inuit people.

Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, is closer to New York City – about 2,900km (1,800 miles) away – than the Danish capital, Copenhagen, located 3,500km (2,174 miles) to the east.

It is a NATO territory through Denmark and an EU-associated overseas territory with residents holding EU citizenship.

Its location offers the shortest air and sea routes between North America and Europe, making it strategically vital for US military operations and missile early-warning systems. Washington has also sought more radar coverage around the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap to monitor Russian and Chinese movements.

Greenland is rich in minerals, including most of the EU’s listed “critical raw materials”, but there is no oil and gas extraction, and many Indigenous residents oppose large-scale mining. The economy mainly depends on fishing.

As climate change opens up more of the Arctic, major powers such as the US, Canada, China and Russia are increasingly interested in its untapped resources.

How has Europe responded to Trump’s tariff threats?

All 27 members of the EU will convene for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss their response to Trump’s threat.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded in a post on X on Saturday, saying: “Our position on Greenland is very clear – it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes,” Starmer wrote.

“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also responded in an X post, saying: “The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland. Dialogue remains essential, and we are committed to building on the process begun already last week between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US.

“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty.”

European Council President Antonio Costa shared a post identical to von der Leyen’s on his own X account.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X: “China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among Allies.”

Kallas added: “Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.”

David van Weel, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, said during an interview on Dutch television on Sunday: “It’s blackmail what he’s doing, … and it’s not necessary. It doesn’t help the alliance [NATO], and it also doesn’t help Greenland.”

US president says 10 percent tariffs to be imposed on eight countries over opposition to US control of semi-autonomous Danish territory.

President Donald Trump has said a number of European allies will be hit with a series of increasing tariffs for opposing United States control of Greenland, as he escalates his campaign to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

In a ‍post on ⁠Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said 10 percent tariffs would come into effect on February 1 on ​Denmark, ‌Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

He added those tariffs ‌would rise to ‌25 percent on June ⁠1 and would continue until an agreement is reached ‌for the US to buy Greenland.

There was no immediate reaction by the European countries.

Trump’s announcement came as thousands of people rallied in cities across Denmark to reject the Republican’s repeated threats to take control of Greenland.

In the capital, Copenhagen, protesters waved the flags of Denmark and Copenhagen and chanted slogans such as “Kalaallit Nunaat” – the Arctic island’s name in Greenlandic.

The protests took place hours after a bipartisan US congressional delegation in Copenhagen sought to reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support.

“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” said Senator Chris Coons, adding that the US has respect for Denmark and NATO “for all we’ve done together.”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has insisted for months that the US should control Greenland. Earlier this week, he said that anything less than the Arctic island being in US hands would be “unacceptable.”

According to the latest poll published in January of last year, 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the US, while only 6 percent were in favour.

While Greenland and Denmark have rejected the idea of the island being “owned” by the US, efforts to get the US administration to change its stance have so far appeared to fail.

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland left a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC, this week, saying that they “didn’t manage to change the American position”.

“It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters.

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New telecommunications cable damage discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.

Finnish authorities have seized a vessel suspected of intentionally severing undersea telecommunications cables amid fears of Russian sabotage in the Gulf of Finland.

The seized cargo vessel Fitburg was en route from the Russian port of St Petersburg ⁠to Israel at the time of the incident on Wednesday, Finnish Border Guard officials said at a news conference in Helsinki.

The Fitburg was dragging its anchor in ‌the sea and was directed to Finnish territorial waters, the police and Border Guard said.

Helsinki police opened an investigation into potential aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

The Fitburg’s 14 crew members were from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and were all detained by Finnish police, investigators said. The ship sailed under the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a statement.

Part of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland is bordered by Estonia, Finland and Russia. The area has been hit by a string of similar incidents in recent years.

The undersea cable belongs to telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure for Finland.

The company said in a statement the cable damage has “not affected the functionality of Elisa’s services in any way”, noting services have been rerouted. Earlier, Elisa said it had detected a fault in its cable and reported it to Finnish authorities.

NATO has boosted its presence in the Baltic with frigates, aircraft and naval drones in recent years.

“We remain in contact with the Finnish authorities through exchange of information via the NATO shipping centre located at our Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, UK,” an official at the military alliance said.

A deliberate act?

Estonia’s Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs said a second telecoms cable connecting ‌the country to Finland also suffered an outage on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether the incidents are related.

“I’m concerned about the reported damage. … Hopefully it was not a deliberate act, but the investigation will clarify,” Estonian President Alar Karis said on X.

Energy and communications infrastructure, including underwater cables and pipelines, have been damaged in the Baltic Sea in recent years.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many security analysts and political leaders have viewed cable sabotage as part of a “hybrid war” carried out by Russia against NATO countries and their allies.

On Christmas Day 2024, the Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S cut five cables in the Gulf of Finland after dragging its anchor on the seabed for 90km (56 miles).

In October, Helsinki’s District Court ruled it did not have jurisdiction to hear a case against the ship’s three senior officers. It said it was up to the vessel’s flag state or the defendants’ home countries – Georgia and India – to try them

Finnish prosecutors have appealed the ruling.

A floating community sauna on frozen Lake Oulu seemed as good a place as any to ask Finnish locals what they think of the European Capital of Culture bandwagon that will be rolling into their city in 2026. Two women sweltering on the top bench seemed to sweat more over my question than over the clouds of sauna steam – the result of a beefy Finn ladling water on the wood-fired coals with a grim determination to broil us all.

“Hmmm, yes, it will bring people to Oulu, which is good, but we don’t really know much about it,” said one of the women. “We know it’s happening, but we haven’t had many details.”

Outside, queueing for the pleasure of a dip in the frozen lake, the question elicited the sort of shrug rarely seen outside France. “We know it’s happening because the posters and signs are everywhere and people are talking about it, but we don’t know exactly what is happening,” said another woman, steaming in the sub-zero air.

There are many reasons to visit the Finnish city of Oulu, which sits on the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea: it hosts the Air Guitar world championships; is home to the world’s only Screaming Men’s Choir (20-40 suited, shouty men); and holds the annual Polar Bear Pitching event, where would-be business leaders pitch money-spinning ideas while standing in icy water. The presentations tend to be brief.

Oulu, Finland’s fifth most populous city, is 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It is a short drive from huskies and sled rides; it offers sea, rivers, rapids, lakes, woods, nature trails and reserves; and there is cross-country skiing as well as almost 600 miles of cycle lanes. You can see the midnight sun in summer and the northern lights in winter. It is a leading light in solar power and renewable energy – and it has saunas. Saunas on lakes and on rafts, saunas in hotels, free saunas by the roadside and in most homes. A century ago, 95% of all children were born at home, often in the sauna. Today, most parents-to-be choose a hospital but introduce their offspring to the sauna at an average age of 4.5 months.

Plus, the Oululainens have a cheery disposition, as do most Finns according to a survey that declared Finland the world’s happiest country for the eighth successive year.

These are all positives to attract visitors to this northern Nordic city that began as a settlement on Sami land in the 1600s, then became a trading site for wood tar, salmon and Nokia phones, and is now a European digital hub and a “living laboratory” (where innovations are tested in a real-world environment) for new technologies.

Sadly, few of these esoteric attractions featured on a trip organised by the city’s Oulu 2026 culture committee, which chose highbrow over the shouty men and pretend guitarists.

The city’s diverse €50m Capital of Culture programme, spread across 39 sites and four counties, is aiming to attract up to 2.5 million visitors – 20% up on an average year – with the theme “Cultural Climate Change”. Highlights include a free Frozen People electronic music festival, held on the iced-over Bothnian Bay – provided it is frozen next year. Also on the calendar is the Lumo Art & Tech festival, plus the Arctic Food Lab, celebrating local cuisine (wild fish, berries, mushrooms), and a Sami opera, Ovllá, about the Indigenous people of Sápmi – the local word for Lapland – which covers northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia’s Kola Peninsula.

“Its a unique opportunity for Oulu,” said Piia Rantala-Korhonen, chief executive officer of Oulu 2026, who estimates that for every euro spent, there will be a €5 return for the city. “Climate change is already happening and is a big concern here: the ice and snow are disappearing. Last year, we had to cancel the skiing marathon for only the second time in 100 years because there was no snow,” she said.

Out on Oulu’s unseasonably slushy streets, most locals are cheerfully enthusiastic about 2026. “It will be nice to have people come here and discover our city,” said Matti, a student at one of Oulu’s two universities. “I am looking forward to it.”

Thirty meters under the city, you can find the Kivisydän (“stone heart”), a vast state-of-the-art car park that diverts vehicles away from the centre and doubles as a walkway when it rains and an emergency bomb shelter. It is a reminder of Finland’s proximity to Russia and the increasing alarm over its aggressive neighbour since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Behind the Kivisydän’s steel doors, a vast red stone column stands like a beating heart. The car park could house the entire city, our guide told us.

But does it have a sauna? I asked.

“I don’t think so, but we’re Finns. If necessary, we can build one in a couple of days,” he said.

Were I a publicist for Oulu 2026, I would have hired Finland’s best air guitarist to accompany the screaming men with a few riffs while standing in an icy lake. Instead, after a traditional salmon soup dinner hosted by the city – followed by a sauna – we were treated to a cosy Norse tale. When 19th-century Oulu sailors became drunk and rowdy on merchant ships carrying tar to Liverpool, local legend has it that the Liverpudlian landlord would urge them to “keep peace”. This is now a popular toast.

As we raised glasses of local schnapps, I can think of many exclamations a scouse pub owner might make to an inebriated Finn. “Keep peace” is not one of them. Still, surrounded by the world’s happiest people, it seemed churlish to argue.

Then it was off to the sauna.

The trip was provided by Oulu 2026