The apprehension of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States has triggered a stark warning from within Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), highlighting potential geopolitical ramifications for Europe, particularly concerning the strategically vital territory of Greenland. Norbert Röttgen, a prominent CDU foreign policy expert, cautioned that Maduro’s detention significantly diminishes the prospects of preventing the United States from pursuing its long-standing ambition of incorporating Greenland into its national territory, effectively subsuming it under Danish sovereignty.
Röttgen’s comments, published in the “Rheinische Post”, underscore a deeper concern: Europe’s limited capacity to influence American policy decisions. While the principles of international law might theoretically offer a recourse, Röttgen argued that any dilution of these principles due to the Venezuela situation would be actively detrimental to European interests, even whilst acknowledging Maduro’s widely recognized illegitimate rule, dictatorial tendencies and alleged involvement in criminal organizations.
The core of the issue lies in the United States’ self-proclaimed dominion over the Western Hemisphere, a perspective explicitly articulated within its national security strategy. According to Röttgen, the Trump administration views the pursuit of US interests in the Americas as fundamentally independent of international legal frameworks, rendering European considerations largely irrelevant. This signals a concerning disconnect, implying that transatlantic partnerships and shared legal norms are being superseded by unilateral American action, potentially destabilizing regional agreements and raising questions about the long-term viability of multilateralism within the hemisphere.
The situation exposes a critical vulnerability for Europe: a dependence on American goodwill in a region where US power remains unchallenged and the apparent disregard for European input raises questions about the efficacy of diplomatic engagement and the need for a more assertive European foreign policy strategy. The events in Venezuela, combined with the Greenland possibility, act as a stark reminder of Europe’s marginalization in the unfolding geostrategic maneuvering by Washington.
