European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union will continue to work closely with the United States to strengthen security in the Arctic even as US President Donald Trump persists with his threats to seize Greenland from Denmark.

“The European Union has a very good reputation in Greenland, and we are counting very much on the excellent cooperation that we have,” von der Leyen said on Thursday on an official visit to Limassol, Cyprus.

“We will thus continue our work on Arctic security with our allies (and) our partners, including the United States,” she added.

Trump has framed his expansionist agenda as a national security goal.

On Wednesday, the American president said that NATO would become “more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the United States”. Otherwise, he said, Russia and China would stand to benefit in the strategic region.

“Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

His remarks coincided with a meeting in Washington between the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, US Secretary Marco Rubio, and US Vice President JD Vance.

The Danish minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen,said the tone had been frank and constructive, but conceded there remained a “fundamental disagreement” between the two sides.

“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” he said at the end of the meeting. “It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

Rasmussen added that Denmark and the US had agreed to set up a high-level “working group” to find a “common way forward” on the matter of Greenland. He also countered Trump’s claims that Chinese warships had gained ground around the island.

At the same time, several European countries began to publicly announce their intention to send military officers as part of a reconnaissance mission to the mineral-rich territory, a stark reflection of the sky-high tensions fuelled by Trump’s vision.

France, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands are among those that have committed to joining the mission at Copenhagen’s request.

Speaking as she marked the start of the Cypriot presidency of the EU Council, von der Leyen promised to “double down” on investments and cooperation in Greenland.

“What is clear is that Greenland can count on us politically, economically, and financially,” she said at a press conference, standing next to the Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

“When it comes to its security, the discussions on Arctic security are, first and foremost, a core issue of NATO. But I also want to emphasise that the Arctic and Arctic security, both topics, are core topics for the European Union and matter enormously for us.”

Mutual assistance

Separately, the European Commission confirmed that Denmark would be able to invoke the EU’s mutual assistance clause in the event of an armed attack against Greenland, even though the semi-autonomous island is not part of the bloc.

The Commission had recently avoided clarifying the legal application.

“Greenland is part of the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and therefore in principle covered by the mutual solidarity clause in Article 42.7 TEU,” a Commission spokesperson told Euronews in a statement.

“However, currently the question doesn’t ask itself,” the spokesperson added, referring to the fact that Trump’s threats have not yet been translated into action.

The mutual assistance clause is enshrined in Article 42.7 of the EU treaties, which says that if a country is “the victim of armed aggression on its territory”, the other member states will have an “obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power” in accordance with the right of collective self-defence recognised by the UN Charter.

The article does not spell out what measures qualify as “aid and assistance” in practice.

According to an explanatory memo from the Commission, member states should have ample margin to decide their support, which could be of a diplomatic, technical, medical or civilian nature. Military assistance is also envisioned.

Activating the article requires an attack “from abroad” carried out by state or non-state actors, the memo says. The decision to activate rests solely on the member state under assault. Once triggered, the duty to assist becomes “legally binding”.

Since its introduction in 2007, Article 42.7 has been invoked only once, when France fell victim to the terrorist attacks of November 2015 and asked other member states to contribute manpower to its Opération Sentinelle.

Notably, Article 42.7 establishes a direct connection with NATO’s Article 5, which is the bedrock of the transatlantic alliance’s collective defence. Most EU countries are members of NATO, creating an overlap of commitments and obligations.

Unlike the EU provision, which is broadly worded, NATO’s Article 5 is more explicit, compelling allies to take necessary action “including the use of armed force” to “restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area”.

However, given that both the US and Denmark are members of NATO, there is no precedent to determine how Article 5 would apply in a scenario where the American military violated Danish sovereignty and seized Greenland by force.

Such a dilemma emerged in 2020 when Turkey and Greece were involved in a standoff over Ankara’s contested gas exploration in waters claimed by Athens. In response, Greece put its army on alert, bringing two NATO members to the brink of war.

WASHINGTON/DUBAI/DOHA, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The United States is withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbours it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.

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The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Iran on Thursday at the request of the United States.

“All the signals are that a U.S. attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy,” a Western military official told Reuters later on Wednesday.

At the White House, however, Trump suggested he was adopting a wait-and-see posture toward the crisis.

Trump told reporters that he has been told that killings in the Iranian government’s crackdown on the protests were subsiding and that he believes there is currently no plan for large-scale executions.

Asked who told him that the killings had stopped, Trump described them as “very important sources on the other side.”

The president did not rule out potential U.S. military action, saying “we are going to watch what the process is” before noting that his administration had received a “very good statement” from Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday “there is no plan” by Iran to hang people, when asked about the anti-government protests.

“There is no plan for hanging at all,” the foreign minister told Fox News in an interview on the “Special Report with Bret Baier” show. “Hanging is out of the question,” he said.

According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Society, hangings are common in Iranian prisons.

TIMING REMAINS UNCLEAR

Two European officials said U.S. military intervention could come in the next 24 hours. An Israeli official also said it appeared Trump had decided to intervene, though the scope and timing remained unclear.

Britain was also withdrawing some personnel from an air base in Qatar ahead of possible U.S. strikes, The I Paper newspaper reported. The British defence ministry had no immediate comment.

Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest, which began two weeks ago as demonstrations against dire economic conditions and rapidly escalated in recent days, as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of Shi’ite clerical rule.

An Iranian official has said more than 2,000 people have died. A rights group put the toll at more than 2,600.

Iran has “never faced this volume of destruction”, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Wednesday, blaming foreign enemies.

Iranian authorities have accused the U.S. and Israel of fomenting the unrest, carried out by people it calls armed terrorists.

IRAN ASKS REGIONAL STATES TO PREVENT A US ATTACK

Trump has openly threatened to intervene in Iran for days, without giving specifics. In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, he vowed “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters. He also urged Iranians to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way”.

The senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran had asked U.S. allies in the region to prevent Washington from attacking Iran.

“Tehran has told regional countries, from Saudi Arabia and UAE to Turkey, that U.S. bases in those countries will be attacked” if the U.S. targets Iran, the official said.

Direct contacts between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have been suspended, the official added.

The United States has forces across the region including the forward headquarters of its Central Command at Al Udeid in Qatar and the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

GOVERNMENT DOESN’T SEEM NEAR COLLAPSE, WESTERN OFFICIAL SAYS

The flow of information from inside Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout.

The U.S.-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals, dwarfing tolls from previous waves of protests crushed by the authorities in 2022 and 2009.

The government’s prestige was hammered by a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign last June – joined by the U.S. – that followed setbacks for Iran’s regional allies in Lebanon and Syria. European powers restored U.N. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme, compounding the economic crisis there.

The unrest on such a scale caught the authorities off guard at a vulnerable time, but it does not appear that the government faces imminent collapse, and its security apparatus still appears to be in control, one Western official said.

The authorities have sought to project images showing they retain public support. Iranian state TV broadcast footage of large funeral processions for people killed in the unrest in Tehran, Isfahan, Bushehr and other cities.

People waved flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and held aloft signs with anti-riot slogans.

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Armed Kurdish separatist groups tried to cross into Iran from Iraq in recent days, stoking fears that the country’s spiraling unrest has attracted dangerous foreign militants who could destabilize the wider region, according to reports.

Iranian officials said the attempted breach came amid a sweeping crackdown on nationwide protests against the country’s regime, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leading the response, Reuters reported.

The Tasnim News Agency also reported armed militia groups operating in Iraq crossed the border in western and northwestern Iran, according to Middle East Monitor.

TOP IRANIAN OFFICIAL DOWNPLAYS DEATH TOLL, BLAMES ‘ISRAELI PLOT’ AS US CONSIDERS STRIKES

Reuters had reported that three sources, including a senior Iranian official, said Turkey’s intelligence agency, known as MIT, warned the IRGC that Kurdish fighters were trying to cross the Iran-Iraq border.

The Iranian official said clashes also broke out after the attempt to cross and accused the fighters of trying to exploit the unrest and create further instability.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, around 30 million Kurds live in the Middle East, mainly in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ‘STARTING TO’ CROSS US RED LINES AS PROTESTERS DIE IN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN

Turkey has designated Kurdish militant groups in northern Iraq as terrorist organizations and has carried out cross-border military operations against them. The Turkish military has also targeted PKK bases in Iraq.

In 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said it would disarm and end its decades-long battle against Turkey.

Reuters said MIT and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office did not comment on the Iran crossing, though it warned that any interference in Iran would inflame regional crises.

‘LEAVE IRAN NOW’: US EMBASSY POSTS WARNING TO AMERICANS STILL IN THE COUNTRY

Iranian authorities alleged the fighters were dispatched from Iraq and Turkey and said the Iranian regime has asked both governments to stop any transfer of fighters or weapons into Iran.

The number of deaths during the crackdown on protesters rose to at least 2,571 on Wednesday, accordin g to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had been told the killings had halted, and he believes there is no plan for large-scale executions. 

Asked who told him, Trump said they were “very important sources on the other side.”

Iran closed its airspace to most flights Wednesday, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, with the closure lasting a little more than two hours.