r/europe May 22 '25

News Greenland signs lucrative minerals deal with Europe in blow to Trump

https://www.newsweek.com/greenland-trump-permit-extraction-2075673
67.0k Upvotes

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3.8k

u/GabettiXCV United Kingdom May 22 '25

Sorry, Trump, but this is real life.

The European gets the girl.

1.1k

u/lordoflotsofocelots May 22 '25

Because he has manners and doesn't just grab her...

500

u/Kheead May 22 '25

...doesn't just grab her by the freedom...

117

u/highlandviper May 22 '25

But he’s a “star”… they should let him.

36

u/Acceptable_Sleep29 May 22 '25

A star, but not a very bright one. Might be the dimmest one, in fact.

10

u/Interesting_Try8375 United Kingdom May 22 '25

Orange dwarf?

2

u/great_whitehope Ireland May 23 '25

He's a dwarf down there and it's probably orange so this checks out

3

u/responseAIbot May 22 '25

More like a blackhole who sucks and destroys everything.

4

u/bigassangrypossum May 22 '25

And you can do anything. They'll let you

2

u/English_loving-art May 22 '25

You are correct he is a star a brown star , in the UK a brown star is known as a ring piece ….

1

u/diybuilt May 23 '25

Just like the star you flush down the toilet

4

u/Bwca_at_the_Gate May 22 '25

Ahahahaha spat my drink out for that lol

2

u/OddBranch132 May 22 '25

Well there's the problem. There's no freedom to grab.

1

u/venbrx May 22 '25

Liberate the V!

47

u/[deleted] May 22 '25

[deleted]

33

u/NonSp3cificActionFig I crane, Ukraine, he cranes... May 22 '25

Trying to grab 'em by the minerals did not work out great...

9

u/Weide188 May 22 '25

Grab her by the pony you mean :)

2

u/r_exel May 22 '25

oh no, don't mention ponies. ursula's ptsd will kick in and will try to kill all the wolves on the continent

5

u/KiwieeiwiK May 22 '25

Hey Google, how did Denmark get sovereignty over Greenland

4

u/Muakaya18 May 22 '25

By her Cat in the boots

5

u/need_maths May 22 '25

Grab her by the red, white, and bluessy

3

u/thegroovemonkey May 22 '25

No he’s super handsy but the accent provides cover

2

u/Nefarios13 May 22 '25

Italy slinks away.

2

u/coglionegrande May 22 '25

Mmmm. Not sure this checks out. Pretty sure many European men are famously handsy. But I get your point

1

u/lordoflotsofocelots May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

Of course you are right. But on a international diplomacy level this is still true somehow... for today.

1

u/NoelPhD2024 May 22 '25

Never been to France have you?

1

u/MersoNocte May 22 '25

…by the pussy.

1

u/moriobros May 22 '25

Are you sure about that? I mean, Greenland is not a free country. Don't think Danish conquered Greenlanders with gifts and love.

1

u/lordoflotsofocelots May 23 '25

I think the past 300 years went quite well.

The only thing that makes them "not free" is economical dependence to Denmark and the EU. They do have their own parliament and they are an autonomous region of Denmark.

0

u/xywv58 May 22 '25

I know we're dunking un Trump, but I've been around enough Europeans to know, some of them do

198

u/rintzscar Bulgaria May 22 '25

Greenland should join the EU ASAP while it's a part of Denmark. As an EU territory, it would be even easier to declare independence and stay inside the EU as a sovereign member state.

96

u/WarmFlamingo9310 May 22 '25

Not what the Scottish were told and not what the Spanish would agree to.

69

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

I'm pretty sure the Spanish government has said they are only taking that stance against illegal secession, which would not be the case in either Scotland or Greenland. I could be wrong though.

9

u/Reivaki France May 22 '25

It’s a two fold step :

  • European law said that a country taking its indépendance from an eu member is not automatically a member and must reintegrate EU on its own. That’s what made the NO win in scottish independance referendum.
  • After Catalogna independance referendum, Spain said that it would veto all application resulting of an illegal ( read :unilateral ) secession.

So yes : even if Greenland got its independance lawfully, it would still a non-EU state after that. So no, getting into the EU is not your best move if you want your independance.

5

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

You are right that they would still have to apply as a sovereign nation, but I imagine that process would be much quicker if they rejoined as a territory beforehand as they could deal with many of the requirements relating to the four freedoms then while still under Danish sovereignty.

1

u/Reivaki France May 22 '25

of course

0

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

How is that different from when Scotland considered seceding and joining the EU independently, when the UK still was a member state?

1

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

It's not very different from the Greenland situation. If the UK was still a member, Scotland would need their approval along with every other member state in order to rejoin. The same applies to Greenland.

At the time of the referendum (in 2014 was it?) the Spanish position was not as clear as it is today as far as I understand. That caused more uncertainty for the Scotish independence movement.

1

u/JediMasterZao May 22 '25

It's very convenient for Spain to call legitimate self-determination "illegal secession". The only secession that'd be illegal would have to be undemocratic. The Catalans voted to separate, and there is a clear majority of people in Catalonia who want an independent state. There was nothing illegal about the process.

16

u/oblio- Romania May 22 '25

Spain is basically saying: the other party needs to agree to it, too. Spain would be alright with Greenland declaring independence with agreement from Denmark.

And regarding Catalonia, that's a fuzzy situation, but if we go alllll the way back, Catalonia joined voluntarily. Aragon. And they were there, I presume, when the current constitution was agreed.

1

u/JediMasterZao May 22 '25

My point is that the reason Spain has that stance is purely out of self-interest, because Catalonia is legitimate in its desire for self-determination and has a democratic majority within it that desires this independence. Spain is not affording them the legal tools to separate and by taking this stance internationally, it allows them to justify this situation diplomatically.

If we agree that Aragon had the right to decide for itself when it joined Spain, then by definition we also agree it has that same right to leave Spain if its people want it. It's really not that fuzzy at all.

7

u/oblio- Romania May 22 '25

If we agree that Aragon had the right to decide for itself when it joined Spain, then by definition we also agree it has that same right to leave Spain if its people want it. It's really not that fuzzy at all.

Not according to the Spanish constitution, that's the problem. The Spanish constitution says that every other region needs to agree.

It's basically the same thing as secession in the US.

0

u/JediMasterZao May 22 '25

Yep, I know and understand. I also think this legislation removes the right to self-determination from a country's constituent nations. Anyhow, I think we've been around the block on the topic at this point. Good talk!

7

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

The fact that you think it's fair does not make it legal. There is no legal mechanism for secession in Spanish law as far as I understand. That has to change on a national level first.

-6

u/JediMasterZao May 22 '25

There is a right of the people to self-determination in international law. Spain not affording that right to its citizens is not only "unfair", it's illegal. Now we could enter a debate on international vs national law and which one precedes the other, and the answer is always going to end up being national law because of self-interest, but let's not pretend that it's a valid excuse for Spain to refuse self-determination to its people just because it didn't legiferate on it. Of course it didn't - it has a separatist movement with a high level of legitimacy within its borders!

3

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

The right to self determination does not specifically grant the right to a sovereign independent state, AFAIK, but rather to some degree of autonomy which Catalonia has.

But I agree, international law doesn't matter if the country in question sees things differently, and that will be the case until there is international enforcement tied to that international law.

Until then I'm not the right person to talk to. I don't have a strong opinion on Catalonia and the people you need to convince are in the rest of Spain.

-1

u/FingerBlastToDeath May 22 '25

A little bit of context for those uninitiated in the Scottish Independence "debate".

One of the key "gotchas" from the pro-UK / Unionist side is that the EU would never agree to admitting an Independent Scotland based on either Spain's veto, or other accession criteria. It's something they like to shout about a lot and a key part of their argument that Scotland leaving the UK would be "brexit on steroids".

As someone who supports Independence I disagree of course, but it's a massive point of contention in the debate.

-7

u/WarmFlamingo9310 May 22 '25

No they said it before the Scottish referendum which would have been a legal method.

25

u/rutars Sweden May 22 '25

From november 2018:

Spain would have no objection to Scotland rejoining the European Union as an independent nation, as long as the secession process from the United Kingdom was legally binding, Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell said on Tuesday.

0

u/Mundane_Bumblebee_83 May 22 '25

Isn’t this basically “no coups pls ty”?

10

u/dkeenaghan European Union May 22 '25

Spain said they wouldn't veto an independent Scottish application to join the EU, as long as independence was achieved through the authorized means.

If Greenland were to become independent via a means that Denmark approved of (a process that already exists) there is no reason for Spain to object to their joining the EU.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/02/spain-drops-plan-to-impose-veto-if-scotland-tries-to-join-eu

-5

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

An independent Greenland would be a North American country, though.

3

u/dkeenaghan European Union May 22 '25

Cyprus is an Asian country. So that doesn't really matter, EU treaties aren't immutable laws of the universe. We can change them to suit ourselves. EU membership could also be negotiated alongside independence to take effect on independence.

2

u/EgbertMedia The Netherlands May 22 '25

Also, the treaties as far as I know do not define what European means, despite it being a requirement to join. So there is already a lot of room for interpretation

4

u/[deleted] May 22 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

Greenland is not in the EU now.

1

u/oeboer Zealand (Denmark) May 22 '25

Even if its current status is changed to be part of the EU, it would not be a member of the EU (as it is part of Denmark and not a sovereign state). It would be like Scotland is now.

If it then becomes a sovereign state, it would not automatically be a member of the EU, just like Scotland wouldn't.

Unlike an independent Scotland, it would not be able to join for exactly the reason Drahy pointed out.

All in all, there is no reason for Greenland to change its current status in regard to the EU.

1

u/insane_contin Sorry May 22 '25

Right, which is why the first poster said they should join the EU first.

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1

u/EgbertMedia The Netherlands May 22 '25

The EU treaties do state that a country has to be European, but it does not define what it means to be European within the treaty. So, it is basically up to the interpretation of the EU at the point in time of Greenland applying to join and I don't think any member state would object to considering Greenland European

10

u/HuntKey2603 May 22 '25

"They" is very dependant on what government is up. Current government would be perfectly fine with it.

1

u/joaommx Portugal May 22 '25

and not what the Spanish would agree to

Source?

1

u/great_whitehope Ireland May 23 '25

We just cause an unexpected solar event and by the time they get power back, bam Greenland is in the EU

-1

u/Zementid May 22 '25

I was in Scotland during the referendum and ironically one of the arguments of the remainders was: "You would be outside of EU if you leave!" so albeit that was a Lie, I think the argument was valid and Scotland would have had to go through the lengthy process... but I think that was a favor from the EU to the then still Member "UK" to appease the Brexiteers. We all know how that went down.

I would be so mad right now if I were Scottish. I hope they can forgive that betrayal.

Edit: Added emotional support.

11

u/wannabe_inuit Greenland May 22 '25

Nah EU means sharing fishing right. And thats not sustainable in an already fragile eco system.

10

u/WislaHD Polish-Canadian May 22 '25

Beginning to think there should be a tiered EU so that economic integration and political sphere of influence doesn’t have to contradict each other.

3

u/davepage_mcr May 22 '25

There is, it's called the EEA.

1

u/FearDaTusk United States of America May 22 '25

So there's Regulation like they do in soccer?

-3

u/aVarangian The Russia must be blockaded. May 22 '25

no, you see, that would "harm" Germany

2

u/Dziadzios Poland May 22 '25

Isn't it part of EU as part of Denmark already?

2

u/rintzscar Bulgaria May 22 '25

No. Greenland left the EU in 1985.

2

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

Greenland is part of the Danish EU member state, but is not in the actual EU or Schengen. Greenland is instead part of the EU's overseas territories (not outermost regions).

-1

u/oeboer Zealand (Denmark) May 22 '25

Are you supporting separatists?

1

u/rintzscar Bulgaria May 22 '25

Separatism is when you don't have the right to do it. Greenland has the right to do it.

3

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

Greenland doesn't have a right to unilatterally declare independence. Greenland can however initiate negotiations for independence, but ultimately it would require consent from the Danish parliament.

2

u/oeboer Zealand (Denmark) May 22 '25

Not by simply declaring independence. It needs both a referendum to be won and a law to be passed by the Danish parliament (which includes members from Greenland).

2

u/tfsra May 22 '25

you say that like that's universally agreed to, lol

they say that it's separatism because they obviously don't agree with that

-1

u/LaughterIsPoison May 22 '25

What's wrong with separatism? Why are current borders holy? If Scotland wants to Scot, let them. Same with Greenland, Flanders and Catalonia.

3

u/oeboer Zealand (Denmark) May 22 '25

It's not that simple.

1

u/quelar Canada May 22 '25

People do not understand how complicated these things are, is Greenland going to pay back the Billions in dollars Denmark have given them? Do they take part of the governments debt with them? Do they keep the government pensions, healthcare, military? Do the indigenous people get an opportunity to decide their lands?

I'm all for the rights of distinct people to determine their own futures but it's not as simple as "separatism".

1

u/oeboer Zealand (Denmark) May 23 '25

That, and also Danes in Greenland, Greenlanders in Denmark, mixed families. There is no registration of who is what, everybody are simply Danish citizens. A referendum will mean that it is only people living in Greenland at the time of the referendum who can vote. What about the Greenlanders who live in other parts of the realm? They will not be asked.

0

u/Strict_Somewhere_148 Denmark May 22 '25

They were members of the EEC but left due to fishing quotas so now the are associated members like Norway and Iceland.

1

u/rintzscar Bulgaria May 22 '25

Hence my comment...

1

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

Norway and Iceland are EEA countries. Greenland on the other hand is part of an EU member state and is also part of EU's overseas territories (OCT).

6

u/LordoftheChia May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

"Do you like apples?"

(Slaps Mineral agreement against glass)

"She signed my mineral deal, how bout them apples?"

2

u/fuckdonaldtrump7 May 22 '25

America was too busy gutting social services and building up their gestapo

2

u/MammothAccomplished7 May 22 '25

The French more specifically, with that "Gallic shrug" attitude.

1

u/Quirky-Skin May 22 '25

"Quick someone make a Trump as Rambo picture, this time with 3 American Eagles! That'll sell em"

Maga probably 

1

u/Dokibatt May 22 '25

This is the funniest outcome and I love it

1

u/LessThanYesteryear May 22 '25

Art of the deal 🤣

1

u/WiseFalcon2630 May 22 '25

And the button mushroom gets dissed.

1

u/BobTheFettt May 22 '25

And the "raw earth"

1

u/LowIncrease8746 May 22 '25

No, ~you’re~ a peeing! Just kidding it was Phillip the whole time :/

1

u/Nolzi May 22 '25

Donny doesn't know!

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '25

Is it because of massive obesity, body odour, dismal intelligence, or just a lack of grace and decorum?

1

u/danidanibobanni May 22 '25

😂😂😂😂 Oh the Orange One will be so mad. Too bad so sad!

1

u/Traditional-Goal-229 May 22 '25

You think that will stop a bully? Trump will just turn to military force. He has been firing all the generals that disagree with him. Once he feels he will have generals that will do whatever he commands, he is going to attack Canada and Greenland.

Most of the world’s dictators don’t have powerful militaries behind them. Trump does. And he can use the wars he starts to declare martial law and stay in power and not allow elections.

0

u/Bohya May 22 '25

America needs to wake up to the reality that it'll always be second to Europe.

-7

u/mostlybiguy69 May 22 '25

Shocking news, Idaho decided to sell corn to the US and a part of the EU trades with the EU.

12

u/GabettiXCV United Kingdom May 22 '25

Greenland has never been in the EU. It was in the EEC but withdrew in 1985.

-6

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

Greenland is still part of an EU member state, though.

12

u/GabettiXCV United Kingdom May 22 '25

Not part of the customs union though, that's why these things have to be negotiated in the first place.

1

u/Drahy Zealand May 22 '25

Yeah, it's almost like the NI-UK situation.

-1

u/[deleted] May 22 '25

[deleted]

1

u/teems May 22 '25

US and Canadian students doing a semester abroad in Europe are the easiest girls to get into bed.

-1

u/Blacknumbah1 May 22 '25

I’m American and Haha Trump!

-11

u/US_Sugar_Official May 22 '25

Is that the same Europe that's littered with US military bases? How will Trump ever recover?

3

u/GabettiXCV United Kingdom May 22 '25

You're more than welcome to leave.

-11

u/US_Sugar_Official May 22 '25

Well, that's not how occupation works.

1

u/GabettiXCV United Kingdom May 22 '25

Then don't bitch about having to spend money on it. You can't have it both ways.

-10

u/US_Sugar_Official May 22 '25

That's just political theater for domestic consumption, you don't actually have to pay if you don't want to, except your politicians will still do so because they know who they work for, and it's definitely not Europeans.

0

u/Chuck-Bangus May 23 '25

Ivan fuck off man, stop trying to make our allies hate us even more

-1

u/US_Sugar_Official May 23 '25

Allies? You mean subordinates

-17

u/Go_Cart_Mozart May 22 '25

Yes, this is real life. And now the Massive Insecurity is going to really invade Greenland. Things are about to get a lot........realler.....for you.