Denmark lost 52 soldiers who fought near the United States. Now Trump is threatening

All his adulthood, Colonel Soren Knudsen, came forward when his country called. And when his allies did.

He fought with the US troops, in particular in Afghanistan, and for a while was the oldest officer of Denmark. During the service, he counted 58 missile attacks.

“I was awarded the US Bronze Medal and they gave me stars and strips. They have been hanging on my wall in our house, and I proudly showed them to all.”

Then something changed.

“After the JD Vance’s statement about Greenland, the president’s disrespect for internationally recognized borders, I took those who were shooting and shooting, and the medal was delayed,” Soren says, his voice made his voice a little.

This week, before Congress, the US president doubled the desire to capture the largest island in the world: Greenland, the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“My first feeling was that it hurts and the second was offended,” Koludsen covers.

I meet with him in the first weeks of retirement near the Royal Residence of the 18th century of Denmark, Palace of Amalienborg in the heart of Copenhagen.

Suddenly, the soldiers flow, and the soldiers flow by.

Today’s change of security guard occurs at a time when the Trump administration was not only subjected to, but also defended most of the assumptions around the US-European security, which took 80 years.

“We are talking about values, and when these values ​​are enhanced by what we considered the ally, it is very difficult to observe.” says Soren with his American wife Gina nearby.

“Denmark freely and no doubt joined the efforts where my husband served,” she says.

“So, it arises as a shock to hear the threats from the country I also love and feel that the alliance is trapped. Tthis feels personally, and not like some abstract external tactics.”

The shadow did not give up all hope.

“This is my hope and my prayer that I can once put (flag) back on the wall,” he admits.

No sign, his prayers will quickly answer.

Greenland, the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, goes to the polls next week, and all major parties support independence at some point in the future.

Donald Trump’s premises – potentially by force – not on the ballot.

Not far from the Royal Palace is a memorial to Denmark to its soldiers lost in a recent battle.

On the covered walls carved on the stone walls are the names killed near their Western allies.

The section that honors those killed in Afghanistan, governed by the United States, is especially significant.

Denmark lost 44 soldiers in Afghanistan that less than six million population was more than any ally but the US. Eight Danish soldiers were killed in Iraq.

That is why the president’s words are so screwed.

One man was very well considered that Trump’s ambitions to Greenland are actually a Fog Rasmussen.

“President Trump’s declaration of intent, perhaps to accept Greenland by force, is very similar to President Putin’s rhetoric when it comes to Ukraine,” he says the BBC.

Former Prime Minister of Denmark and ex-sexarette General NATO claims that this is the moment of Denmark, and the rest of Europe must be strengthened to better defend himself if the US does not want.

“From my childhood, I admired the US and their role in the world. And I think we need a policeman to provide international law and order, but if the US does not want to fulfill this role, Europe should be able to defend itself to stand on our feet.”

Fogh Rasmussen does not believe that the policeman will become a criminal.

“I would like to emphasize that I don’t think that the Americans will take Greenland with force.”

President Trump first spoke about the absorption of Greenland in the first term of the office before returning to the topic earlier this year.

But now, after dazzling allies with the last steps in Ukraine, tariffs, as well as in the Middle East, Denmark urgently tries to evaluate the true threat.

For many young Danes control over Greenland is clear – an incomprehensible colonial hangover.

This does not mean that they want it to pass simply the US.

“We have a connection with Greenland,” says Molly music student. “Denmark and Greenland are quite divided, I would say, but I still have friends, so it really affects me personally.”

“It seems to me it’s really scary,” says 18-year-old music student Lucas.

“Everything he sees, he goes for. And the thing with oil and money, he does not care about the climate, he does not care about anyone or anything.”

His friend Clara Chips is that Trump is now so powerful that it can “affect their daily life” of thousands of miles, in an unprecedented danger.

In the light of the suspension of President Trump’s military assistance for Ukraine and his deep reluctance to finance the security of Europe, Denmark was at the heart of the desire to increase the cost of defense on the continent.

The country has just announced that it will allocate more than 3% of its GDP for defense costs in 2025 and 2026 to protect against future aggression from Russia or other places.

Meanwhile, Hans Tina Hansen’s security analyst stands in front of a huge screen that he calls “Ops Room” in Copenhagen’s Kopenhagen headquarters.

“This is a map where we have updated our picture of threats based on alerts and incidents every day,” says Hans, who has been in charge of risk exploration over the last 25 years.

As part of the increase in the cost of defense of Denmark, it strengthens its strength in the “high north” with additional two billion euros announced in January, and three new Arctic Naval Courts and investments in drones.

Hans believes that Arctic security may be even more intensified by the American acquisition – but with new transactions that restore the influence of the United States.

“If you conclude more agreements, both in defense and in the field of security, but also in the raw materials, then we are more returned to where they were in the 50th and 60s.”

But the story stretches further than in the mid-20th century.

“If you look at this globe, Greenland is the most central place on Earth,” says the world-renowned geologist Professing Minik Rosing, gesture in his office.

The calm of his room reflects the temperament of the person who grew up in the settlements of the whole “seven -oxy” in Nuuk -Fiorede on the island.

But the key reason for his homeland is now increasing care from outsiders, these are rich minerals under the Arctic ice.

We saw how the natural resources of Ukraine quarreled President Trump almost the same.

“All these minerals they talk about as rare metals, rare elements of the Earth are not uncommon. They rarely use them,” he pays attention.

Professor Rosing says Greenland’s extensive and lack of infrastructure is just two elements, why the island may not be a cash point that some Americans hope.

“They are a miserable part of the mining industry, and the economy of their extraction is very uncertain, while the investment to start extracting is very high. The risk of investment is too high compared to potential income.”

Currently, the Greenland government states that at some point after the election next week there will be a vote on Independence.

Although, of course, unintentional, President Trump’s constructions on the island covered the desire found among the Inuits, finally free from 300 -year -old Danish control.

But Professor Rosing believes that, despite all the hidden mineral wealth, his colleagues -grenlers are in no hurry to abandon the annual grant of the equivalent of £ 480 million (€ 570 million), which he receives from Copenhagen.

This is easy than half the state budget of the island.

“People talk about medical services, schools, the next suspension engine they want on their boat, and what is the price of gas and all these things that ordinary people do,” he says.

“It is not the way they get up with a big knife, waving them in the air and shouting independence and independence.”

From the point of view of Trump’s obvious obsession with Greenland, Fogh Rasmussen is afraid that an alarming conclusion can be made.

The one that would make the Danes unable to run a business with a person whose view of territorial integrity is so wildly incompatible from them.

“I understand the American strategic interest in minerals very well, but when it comes to production in Greenland, they did not show interest,” he says.

“It causes me concern that it may not be about safety, perhaps it is not about minerals, perhaps this is just a question of expanding the US territory.

“And this is actually the moment when we are unable to post President Trump.”

Additional Kostas Kallergis report