Eric's Insight: European military drill at Greenland is merely symbolic

A Danish air force transport plane arrives in Greenland as European Nato allies deployed to the capital, Nuuk, for joint exercises. Photo/Reuters

Named "Operation Arctic Endurance", the joint military exercise is conducted by European countries in response to the US claim of the Denmark territory, but its effect is more symbolic than meaningful.

For one thing, the poor European military coalition consists of less than 40 soldiers, including one from the UK, one from Netherlands, two from Finland, two from Norway, three from Sweden, 13 from Germany, and 15 from France.

For the other, the European military coalition turned out to be lack of endurance, with the drill lasting less than 48 hours. Instead, it fell apart amid a US tariff threat. After all, Europe is heavily depended on the US both in defense and economy. The continent has a long way to go in pursuing its strategic autonomy.

Writing by Wang Shixue (The article represents the authors' personal views and does not necessarily reflect the stance of Mekong News Network, YICC.)