Polish PM rules out sending troops to Greenland, says US invasion would be “end of world as we know it”

Jan 15, 2026 | Defence, Politics

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk says Poland has no plans to join other European countries in sending military personnel to Greenland amid ongoing concern over US President Donald Trump’s efforts to gain control over the island.

Tusk warned that, if Trump takes military action against Greenland, it would be “the end of the world as we know it”.

On Thursday, Germany, Sweden, France and Norway, all members of NATO, confirmed that they were dispatching small military contingents to Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to participate in joint exercises with their Danish counterparts.

At a press conference later in the day, Tusk was asked if Poland would follow their example. “No, we have no plans to send Polish troops to Greenland,” he responded. Asked more broadly about the situation, Tusk said that “potential US military intervention would be a disaster”.

“A conflict or attempted annexation of the territory of a NATO member state by another NATO member state, including the United States, would be the end of the world as we know it,” continued the prime minister.

It would mark the end of “a world order based on NATO solidarity, which has held back the evil forces of communism, terrorism and other forms of international aggression”, he added.

 

The Polish prime minister said that he “does not want to speculate on whether [a US invasion] is possible”. But, “unfortunately, no scenario can be ruled out”, especially “given the actions of President Trump’s administration so far”.

He noted that, during his previous talks with Trump, the US president “repeatedly made it clear that unpredictability and surprise, especially of allies, were his preferred methods”.

If the existing transatlantic alliance does collapse, said Tusk, “we would have to prepare to build a security architecture with those who remain loyal to the project of the West as a community”.

Tusk, a former president of the European Council, leads a centrist, pro-EU government. Both he and other figures in his administration have been critical of Trump in the past, though they have sought to work with the US president since his return to the White House.

By contrast, Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition, has been a close ally of Trump. Asked this week by the BBC about the situation surrounding Greenland, Nawrocki said that “discussions should remain a matter between the prime minister of Denmark and President Trump”.

That marked a contrast to Tusk, who last week co-authored a statement with Denmark’s prime minister and the leaders of the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain warning Trump against violating Greenland’s sovereignty.

While Poland’s government, led by Tusk, is in charge of the day-to-day running of foreign and defence policy, the president serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and also has a voice in Poland’s international relations.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: KPRP/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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