Prime Minister Mark Carney called Denmark one of Canada’s closest allies this week, linking the relationship to Arctic security and NATO defence as President Donald Trump renewed his push for American control of Greenland.
Speaking beside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Carney said Canada has “no greater friend, and tighter ally than Denmark.”
“We are both core members of NATO,” Carney said. “We both have deep interests in the Arctic, and we’re both acting to protect those interests. And by doing so, protecting NATO.”
The remarks came as Trump again argued that Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, is important to US national security. At the same NATO Summit, he said that Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.” He also said the dispute had hurt his relationship with NATO, arguing that Greenland is “an important part for the United States” and is “surrounded by China ships and Russian ships.”
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Frederiksen pushed back in Ankara, saying, “It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen.” Greenland’s head of government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also rejected the demand, writing that “repeated calls for the takeover or control of our country do not change this.”
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The official readout of the Carney-Frederiksen meeting itself did not mention Trump or Greenland directly. It said the two leaders discussed Arctic security, NATO cooperation, trade, energy, critical minerals, and support for Ukraine.
But Carney and Frederiksen’s words can be read between the lines, referencing to the absent elephant in the room. After Carney highlighted the alignment on protecting both nations’ interests in Arctic and NATO, Frederiksen said the two countries “have become more closer in recent years.”
This is especially clearer when taken into context after Trump admitted not getting Greenland is the reason he soured on NATO.
“It all began with, if you want to know the truth, Greenland,” he said. “We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us. And I said, ‘bye, bye’.”
Carney’s stronger underline of the ties with the European nation also evokes the prime minister’s strategy to align Canada more to the EU as an effort to lessen dependence on the US.
The Carney-Frederiksen meeting also included a concrete defence move. Canada said it will join Denmark and Latvia as a Framework Nation for NATO’s Multinational Division North, a command structure focused on deterrence and defence in the Baltic region.
The step gives Canada a larger role in NATO’s northern and eastern defence posture at a time when Arctic security is becoming more politically sensitive. Canada and Denmark both have direct interests in the region, including sovereignty, military access, critical minerals, and shipping routes.
