Dutch Navy soldiers left Greenland after completing the mission

Two officers of the Royal Netherlands Navy who participated in a reconnaissance mission in Greenland have completed their tasks and are leaving the island. This was announced on January 19 by the Ministry of Defense of the country.

"Two officers of the Royal Netherlands Navy who participated in an intelligence operation in Greenland as part of joint military exercises in the Arctic region have completed their work as planned. They are leaving Greenland today," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It is clarified that allies of NATO member countries, including the Netherlands, visited Greenland to explore options for conducting joint exercises. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Dutch military provided assistance both in operational matters and in the field of logistics.

They added that preparatory work on military cooperation in the Arctic region will be continued by Denmark and the Netherlands in the near future.

Northern influence: Europe and the United States on the verge of a trade war over Greenland

The European Union is nervous about Trump's plans to impose duties against EU countries

The Bild newspaper reported on January 15 that the first military personnel from European countries arrived in Greenland amid statements by American leader Donald Trump about the need for the island to join the United States. According to the newspaper, the Hercules military transport aircraft of the Danish army landed at the airport of the capital of Greenland Nuuk, later units from Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Great Britain and Norway also went to Greenland.

Later, on January 17, Trump announced that Washington was imposing duties of 10% with the possibility of increasing up to 25% on a number of European countries due to the situation around Greenland. It was noted that starting from February 1, 2026, tariffs will apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Finland.

Kirill Dmitriev, special Representative of the Russian president and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), in turn, said that the European Union quickly gave up under US pressure in the conflict over Washington's attempts to annex Greenland. It was noted that he attached to his comment the publication of the news platform Clash Report, which reported that the EU is not yet going to use countermeasures against the United States in response to attempts to annex the Danish island.

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