PARIS, January 21. /TASS/. Most Frenchmen believe that Paris should send troops to Greenland amid fears that Washington could use force to seize the island, shows a poll conducted by the Elabe company, which involved 1,000 people over the age of 18.
"As many as 62% of those polled support the idea of deploying French troops to Greenland to support Denmark and prevent any US attempts to seize the territory, and 18% are confident that such a defensive measure is necessary," the pollster said. Notably, the idea of troop deployment was backed by the majority of those who support France’s ruling centrist coalition Ensemble, as well as left-wing and right-wing parties, except for the supporters of the National Rally party, who largely oppose the initiative (54%).
More than half of the poll’s participants (59%) do not rule out that US President Donald Trump could order a military invasion of Greenland. In this regard, 69% of those surveyed believe that France and other EU countries should "stand up against any attempt by the US to take Greenland under control." A total of 23% think that Europeans should engage in talks with Trump even if some of Greenland’s resources come under US control. Another seven percent said that Greenland should be given to the United States.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen, in addition to their allied commitments to NATO, signed the Greenland Defense Treaty. Under it, the United States committed to defending the island from aggression. Trump claims that Washington needs to acquire Greenland in order to strengthen US national security and effectively deploy its Golden Dome missile defense system.
On January 14, Greenland’s government and Denmark’s Defense Ministry announced their decision to continue efforts to step up the Danish armed forces’ drills in Greenland in close cooperation with NATO allies amid geopolitical tensions in the Arctic. The United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, France, and Sweden announced plans to send troops to the island.
Trump announced in a Truth Social post on January 17 that the US would impose 10% tariffs on the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, France, and Sweden over the Greenland dispute starting on February 1, and would raise them to 25% on June 1. According to the US leader, the tariffs "will be due and payable until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland.".