"Could Endanger NATO': Ex-Danish Envoy To NDTV On Trump's Greenland Push

As Washington openly keeps the military option on the table to acquire Greenland following its shock intervention in Venezuela, Denmark's former ambassador to India, Freddy Svane, has warned that the world is entering a "new and unprecedented" phase of power politics where even long-standing alliances like NATO could come under strain.

Speaking to NDTV's Senior Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul, Svane said he wakes up every morning "checking the new headlines from Washington" because "every day, every hour brings new aspects" to what he described as an extraordinary and dangerous escalation around Greenland.

"Everything is on the table now: military intervention, economic pressure. The way these tools are being displayed is unprecedented," he said, underlining that the debate is no longer theoretical after the US military operation in Venezuela that led to the overnight capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

The former ambassador said the Greenland crisis cannot be separated from what he called a "new world order" driven by raw power. "We have a new, stronger political leader in the US. President Trump is pursuing whatever he thinks is needed to protect American national security. That's the old Monroe Doctrine at full display," Svane said.

Washington has publicly argued that Greenland's location in the Arctic makes it central to US security strategy.

Svane acknowledged that the island is "very, very strategically located" and pointed out that the US already has a military presence there under a 1951 treaty with Denmark. But he warned that the current approach risks blowing up trust inside the Western alliance.

"The security interest is legitimate. But the way it is being pursued is something completely different," he said.

Svane confirmed that the rhetoric coming out of Washington has triggered intense discussions not just in Copenhagen and Nuuk, but across Europe. "Of course it has a huge impact on Denmark and Greenland, but also on Europe. This is why you see European leaders standing together," he said, referring to the joint statement backing Greenland's right to decide its own future.

Denmark's prime minister, he noted, has repeatedly said that "it is for the Greenlandic people to decide" whether they want independence, to remain within the Kingdom of Denmark, or even to move closer to the US. "But that decision has to come from them, not from pressure," he stressed.

Using a striking family analogy, Svane described the current standoff this way: "It's like the father of the family saying, 'You have to be part of my extended family.' That kind of discussion has to happen - but not through escalation."

He warned that if the crisis deepens, it could have serious consequences for NATO itself. "If this continues and escalates, it could endanger the future of NATO. You already see Europeans gathering behind Denmark and Greenland in opposition to what we are hearing from the US - and the US is the biggest player in NATO."

Svane argued that paradoxically, such a shock might push Europe to finally build its own serious military capability. "We have neglected our own European security structures for too long. This is a wake-up call," he said.

The former envoy said the Venezuela operation has changed how such threats are perceived. "When I saw it, it felt like a Hollywood or Netflix series. They went in and took out the president and his wife. That's unprecedented," he said. "The conclusion is that the US has a military power that cannot be measured against anyone else - and that leads to the thinking: we can do whatever we decide is important for us."

He said Europe's muted response to the Venezuela operation also reveals how much the world has changed. "Nobody mentioned Trump by name to criticise him. That tells you we have entered a new era where power and power politics play a much bigger role."

On why Greenland matters so much to Washington, Svane said it is about far more than one factor. "Everything. Military, geography, resources, rare earths - and keeping China and Russia out. It's the same thinking you saw in Venezuela," he said.

But he insisted that confrontation would be disastrous. "You need dialogue. You need backchannel diplomacy. You need to de-escalate, not escalate."

Svane issued a stark warning about the wider implications. "For the first time ever, everything is up in the air. We don't know what comes next. The door to a new world order has been opened and the key has been thrown away."

As Washington signals that even force is not off the table, Europe, he suggested, is being pushed into a moment of historic reckoning, not just about Greenland, but about the future shape of global power itself.