Altogether, there are 15 French, 13 German, 2 Norwegian, 3 Swedish, 2 Finnish, 1 British, and 1 Dutch military personnel from the fearful “Arctic Endurance” group, which is supposed to deter the U.S. Army from invading Greenland. The company-sized contingent is already in Greenland, with French President Emmanuel Macron announcing more ground, air and naval assets in the next few days. The German contingent, however, will stay only until Jan. 17.
“What are 100, 200, or 300 soldiers of any nationality doing in Greenland? It sounds like the beginning of a joke,” Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto asked journalists Jan. 15. “It’s not a competition to see who can send the most troops around the world; ours is a rational approach. We have asked NATO to coordinate. We need to unite, not divide.”
While Crosetto was saying this in the Senate building, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was meeting with the Italian ambassadors to Denmark, NATO, and Brussels. “No matter how you look at it, the position remains unchanged,” Corriere della Sera reported: “Rome will not participate in the Arctic Endurance military operation. ... The whole thing is a Kramer vs. Kramer-style short circuit, or rather European NATO vs. American NATO.”
