So much for Greenland defence by NATO: German soldiers quietly exit territory amid Trump invasion talk, claims report

A reconnaissance team of Bundeswehr, the German Armed forces, departed from Greenland over the weekend after their reconnaissance mission was cancelled, the newspaper BILD claimed. The report came amid US President Donald Trump’s continuous public threats to Greenland, hinting at invading the territory due to its ‘national security’ importance and threat posed by Russia.

NATO wobbling on Greenland defence

Some NATO nations are being mocked for having sent only small contingents, sometimes just one or two soldiers, to support Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, which is covered under NATO defence obligations of ‘one for all, all for one’. The situation is panning out to be a case of ‘ally versus ally’ within the Western defence bloc, of which the US is a prominent member.

German federal defence's reconnaissance team leaves Greenland

The 15 soldiers from Bundeswehr's Army, Air Force and Navy had arrived in Greenland on Friday as part of a reconnaissance mission by NATO states at Denmark’s invitation. The aim was to conduct an exercise and to explore possible future training and stationing options. The deployment was launched after the collapse of a planned meeting of top foreign officials of the US, Denmark and Greenlandin Washington.

The BILD report claimed that the Bundeswehr reconnaissance team departed Greenland after just two days there. It said the soldiers, led by Rear Admiral Stefan Pauly, Inspector of the German Navy, left on Sunday afternoon (Jan18), shortly before departure at Nuuk Airport.

The order to pull out was reportedly sent from Berlin early that morning. The departure aircraft had to be de-iced before take-off, causing a delay.

Earlier, the German Defence Ministry said that a flight had originally been planned to the Danish military base at Kangilinnguit, where reconnaissance activities were scheduled. These plans were affected by poor weather conditions and were subsequently changed, leading to the decision to depart Greenland, as per the report.

On Friday, a Defence Ministry spokesperson, Michael Stempfle, said he did not want to go into detail about the departure date.

The soldiers had landed in Greenland a day later than originally planned. They were initially scheduled to fly directly to Greenland aboard a Bundeswehr Airbus A400M between 15 and 17 January. Instead, they travelled via Denmark and only reached Greenland on 16 January using a Danish aircraft, the report said.

Is Berlin reacting to Trump’s tariff and takeover rhetoric?

On Saturday, Rear Admiral Pauly said that discussions had been held with Danish forces and other allies about possibilities for further cooperation on the island, including the option of a larger joint military exercise. He said they were awaiting approval from Berlin on what activities would be authorised. Within only a few hours of those remarks, Bundeswehr personnel were already at the airport with all their equipment, preparing to depart. Coincidentally, Trump warned of tariff hikes of up to 25 per cent on countries defending Greenland, which appears to have created a change of heart in some European defence headquarters.

Why is Greenland pitting NATO allies US against Europe?

Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark is a NATO member state. Greenland’s defence falls under NATO’s collective defence framework. Greenland’s government has repeatedly rejected any notion of a US takeover, insisting that Greenlanders would decide its future.

Trump reiterated his view that Greenland is of major strategic importance to the US, citing Arctic security, Russian military positioning and rising Chinese influence in the region.

Small troop size in Greenland exercises raise criticism

Over the past few days, several NATO countries, including Germany, the UK and France, participated in Arctic and Greenland-related exercises under Danish leadership. But they often deployed very small units focused on reconnaissance, logistics and cooperation rather than permanent stationing. Reports of some of these nations sending only one or two soldiers each caused widespread mockery.

Germany’s defence ministry, meanwhile, insisted that the departure of its reconnaissance team from Greenland was carried out according to revised operational planning, and bad weather. It maintained that the exit does not signal a withdrawal from NATO’s broader commitment to Arctic security.