Former NATO Secretary General (in charge of 2014-2024) Jens Stoltenberg does not rule out the possibility that the US could leave NATO.
“Nothing is fixed, everything can change,” he said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine. “I cannot promise that America will stay in NATO,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.
The former secretary general believes that NATO must take measures to maintain the transatlantic alliance “regardless of whether the United States remains an active ally in NATO or not.”
Regarding the situation around Greenland, Stoltenberg warned against underestimating US plans.
“If the United States says it wants to take control of Greenland then we have to take that seriously,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared the need to annex Greenland into the US. During his first term, he offered to buy Greenland and in March 2025 he expressed confidence that it could be annexed, threatening Denmark with trade tariffs if he refused. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected these claims, insisting that the island is part of the kingdom.
Greenland is part of Denmark as an autonomous territory. In 1951, Washington and Copenhagen signed the Greenland Defense Treaty, in addition to their NATO alliance obligations. Accordingly, the United States pledged to defend the island from possible invasion.
