'We are family', says EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at start of Greenland visit

"We are family," she said on her arrival in the island's capital, Nuuk, where she was welcomed by Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen.

Throughout her trip, von der Leyen will send the message that the Danish autonomous territory belongs with Europe rather than the US.

Her agenda includes a boat outing amid the icebergs, meetings top Greenlandic and Danish officials and signing a joint statement between Greenland and the EU.

US security plan for Greenland

Trump insisted earlier this year that Washington needed to control Greenland for national security reasons, though he ultimately ruled out annexing it by force.

A Danish-Greenlandic-US working group has since met regularly to find a way of cooperating in the future.

Following Trump's threats,European countries as well as Canada backed Denmark and Greenland.

In January, von der Leyen vowed there would be massive EU investment in Greenland to step up security in the Arctic.

Brussels has proposed doubling direct EU aid to Greenland to €530 million under the 27-nation bloc's next budget for the 2028-2034 period.

 According to the British newspaperFinancial Times, von der Leyen is expected to propose an additional €200 million in support during her visit on Sunday and Monday.

 "Europe is delivering," she said. "We are expanding our cooperation to new areas, from better, faster connectivity and clean energy to critical raw materials."

10-nation military exercises  

Von der Leyen's visit coincides with the start of Nato's Arctic Shield military exercise, bringing together soldiers from 10 countries.

The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Denmark of neglecting Greenland and Arctic security.

However, Copenhagen has since reinvested in the region, as has Nato, which launched its Arctic Sentry mission at the start of the year.

"Greenland is becoming increasingly important to the EU as a gateway to the Arctic and because of its geopolitical location, critical raw materials and role in Arctic security," Marc Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, told the French news agency AFP ahead of the visit.

US and Denmark to reopen 1951 defence agreement on Greenland

"We've been getting 'postcards' from Trump or those close to him about Greenland every month, showing that they haven't forgotten," said Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a geopolitics researcher at the University of Quebec.

One such imageTrump posted on social media in May showed him peering over the island, with the headline: "Hello, Greenland!"

Trump lashes out at NATO allies over Greenland and Iran, targeting Spain

Last month, media reports of an American oil company's preparatory operations in a remote region of eastern Greenland rekindled concerns on the island.

The project, run by a Texas-based company with licences granted before a 2021 moratorium on oil and gas exploration and extraction, has left locals and authorities uneasy.

Authorities have yet to grant the company approval for exploratory drilling, citing procedural reasons.

Greenland, home to 57,000 inhabitants, is also struggling to develop its mining industry, which could help it fund its independence from Denmark.

But turning Greenland's geological potential into reality is proving more difficult than expected. Around 135 mining permits are held by more than 60 companies, but only two mines are currently in operation.