Finland's former President Sauli Niinisto has said that tensions over Greenland should not be allowed to lead to the collapse of NATO.
"No one could have imagined that NATO's main member would threaten to invade the territory of another NATO country," Niinisto told Finnish broadcaster MTV on Thursday, referring to US President Donald Trump's repeated remarks that the US should annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
Niinisto, who oversaw Finland's accession to NATO before leaving office last year, said that even if Washington pursued an aggressive policy toward Greenland, the alliance must endure.
"Let's take NATO into European hands, or try to buy time in the hope that something will change in the United States," he said.
Trump has reiterated in recent days that the US "needs Greenland" and has not ruled out the use of military force to achieve that goal.
Danish and Greenlandic officials visited the White House this week to defuse the situation, but the US president maintained his stance after the talks.
Niinisto also warned that any military action against Greenland could trigger the European Union's mutual assistance clause under the Lisbon Treaty.
- Possible joint EU military force
Niinisto is currently chairing a working group preparing a report on how Europe could guarantee its own defense without US participation.
The study, due to be published in March by the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), is expected to raise the possibility of establishing a joint European military force.
He said the report is urgently needed and expressed hope that European governments would take its recommendations seriously.
Meanwhile, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen sought to downplay the immediacy of the crisis, saying there was "no acute emergency."
Speaking on public broadcaster Yle, Valtonen confirmed that Finland had been invited to take part in military exercises in Greenland and that the request was under consideration.
She said the drills would be limited in scale and could later involve NATO, stressing that any military preparations should be carried out within the framework of the alliance.
Several European countries, including France, Sweden, and Norway, have recently deployed small military contingents or officers to Greenland amid growing concerns over security in the Arctic region.
