BERLIN, January 18. /TASS/. Bundeswehr servicemen stationed in Greenland unexpectedly received orders from Berlin on Sunday morning to urgently leave the island, Bild newspaper reported, citing its own sources.
According to the outlet, 15 soldiers and officers led by Admiral Stefan Pauli are already at the airport in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and are due to depart on an Icelandair flight. The newspaper claims that the Bundeswehr’s advance group was given no explanation by German authorities for the sudden departure. All planned activities on the ground have been canceled. No official statements have been made, and everything is being done under conditions of secrecy, Bild noted.
It had initially been expected that the Bundeswehr personnel, who arrived in Greenland on Friday, would remain there for a longer period. The newspaper does not rule out that they are leaving the island in haste following US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional tariffs on Germany and a number of other European countries over Greenland.
As Trump announced earlier on the Truth Social platform, the United States will begin levying 10% import tariffs on the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, France, and Sweden, which will remain in place until the parties reach agreements on the "full and final acquisition" of Greenland by Washington. According to the White House, this decision will take effect on February 1, and from June 1 the tariff rate will rise to 25%. In addition, he criticized Europe’s intention to send its forces to Greenland.