Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte agreed the transatlantic military alliance is facing a “test” that requires ensuring security in the Arctic, Carney’s office said after the two leaders met Wednesday.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which has been overshadowed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a takeover of Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.
“Prime Minister Carney and Secretary General Rutte reaffirmed their mutual commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark, including Greenland,” a readout of the meeting from the Prime Minister’s Office said. “They underscored that decisions on the future of Greenland are for Greenland and Denmark to make.
“The leaders recognised the test facing the NATO Alliance and emphasised the first response to that test must be to ensure the security of the Arctic, including accelerating new investments in the Alliance’s northwestern flank.”
The readout said Carney highlighted “significant investments to reinforce Canada’s Arctic sovereignty,” including year-round military presence in the Far North and over-the-horizon radar to detect incoming threats.
“The Prime Minister noted Canada’s mission to quadruple defence spending over the next decade,” it added.
Speaking to the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, Carney said Canada is on track to double its defence spending by 2030.
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“We’re working with our NATO allies, including the Nordic-Baltic Eight, to further secure the alliance’s northern and western flanks, including through Canada’s unprecedented investments in over-the-horizon radar, in submarines, in aircraft, and boots on the ground — boots on the ice,” he said.
NATO allies agreed last summer to a new defence spending target of five per cent of GDP, including 3.5 per cent on core military spending, a commitment pushed by Trump.
In his own speech in Davos on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland for U.S. national security purposes — despite the fact the territory is already under NATO protection and the U.S. currently has the ability to expand its military presence under a 1951 treaty with Denmark.
However, Trump said he did not want to take over Greenland by military force.
“I won’t use force,” he told the crowd. “All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland.
“That’s our territory.”
Trump’s push for Greenland has raised questions about whether Canada can continue to rely on the U.S. as a stable ally in Arctic security.
However, many defence experts have warned it would be unwise for Canada to try to go it alone or replace American military co-operation with Europe.
Trump’s Davos speech also repeatedly criticized NATO and questioned its effectiveness, including whether the alliance would come to the aid of the U.S. in the event of an attack.
The only time NATO’s Article 5 has ever been invoked was after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which spurred countries, including Canada and Denmark, to respond along with other NATO allies and led to deployments into Afghanistan that cost 158 Canadian and 44 Danish lives.
Rutte on Wednesday said he would not publicly comment on the tensions between the U.S. and its European allies over Trump’s Greenland demands.
“You can be assured that I’m working on this issue behind the scenes, but I cannot do it in public,” Rutte said during a WEF panel discussion.
“President Trump and other leaders are right. We have to do more there. We have to protect the Arctic against Russian and Chinese influence,” he said. “We are working on that, making sure that collectively we’ll defend the Arctic region.”
Rutte also cautioned NATO allies not to let the Greenland issue distract from efforts to defend Ukraine from Russia’s invasion, calling that war “the number one priority.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said Carney and Rutte discussed ongoing peace talks during their meeting and “underscored the importance of the alliance’s support for advancing Ukraine’s peace and security.”
—With files from Reuters
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