"Europe, it's getting serious! The US military's blitz in Venezuela changed the world," says Carsten Künthop in a commentary for the German public broadcaster ARD.
"Trump will want more"
Until now, it was believed that President Donald Trump talked a lot if the day was long, and there was a big gap between his words and his actions. Trump was also known for quickly surrendering as soon as he encountered serious resistance, the author writes.
But since Venezuela, everything has been different. Trump is downright intoxicated by the brilliant military operation. It went according to plan, quickly and without losses. This success has whetted Trump's appetite for more, Kuntop emphasizes.
Further in the commentary we read: "The president and those around him are already openly considering trying the same thing elsewhere. With frightening carelessness, these people are throwing more names into the public domain: Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Canada, Cuba - and Greenland. And, as always, Republicans in Congress are nodding approvingly.
Compared to the complexity of the military operation in Venezuela, the capture of Greenland by the United States would be child's play. All it takes is a few Marines to land, plant the American flag in the permafrost and proclaim: "This is ours now".
Among his supporters, Trump has created expectations and does not want to disappoint them. Too often he and his advisers have spoken out strongly in public, but in the end they have been forced to back down. After Venezuela, however, Trump has no inhibitions. And he does not accept institutional barriers anyway."At the end of his commentary, the author summarizes: "Therefore, dear Europeans: things are really serious!".
"The rule breakers are the winners today"
Another commentary published on the ARD website, by Jana Sinram, is in a similar vein. "The Greenland conflict shows us clearly: Europeans can no longer rely on the United States, which was their greatest guarantee of security after the end of World War II. In this new world order, they are quite lonely."
The other major public media in Germany - ZDF - also addresses the topic. Its website features an extensive interview with German political scientist Herfried Münkler, who says that the winners today are those who break the rules.
Maduro's abduction is in violation of international law, but that is no longer a big problem, because since the conflict in Ukraine, breaking the rules has become "something that is applauded," he says.
"A system has emerged in which the rules are no longer respected because there is no one to uphold them. In this system, the winners are precisely those who break the rules," Münkler tells ZDF.
He emphasizes that the question now arises for Europeans what it means that the United States is continuing to advance in "consolidating a sphere of influence." According to him, for Europeans, Trump's statements about Greenland are probably more relevant than what happened in Venezuela. He believes that in this situation, it would be wise for Europeans to signal that they understand Trump's concerns about Russian ships around Greenland and to offer him, for example, "relocation of NATO troops to Greenland" and thus put their "foot in the door". According to Münkler, Europe has no other alternative but to try to achieve "something like real strategic autonomy".
The political scientist believes that there is no longer much point in talking, for example, about international law, which many are no longer interested in. He specifies that this certainly applies to major powers such as the US, Russia and China.
Three more years of Trump and then the turmoil will be over?
Münkler does not share the idea that this is only a temporary phase of turmoil in international institutions. Their restoration is a "slow and difficult process", he recalls.
The rupture in US security policy is particularly clear. They are trying to "organize their security without Europe", which is a clear rupture with "what they did after World War II". To this end, the US needs Greenland and the next topic of conversation will probably be Iceland, the German political scientist admits.
However, the Europeans are not interested in this, says Münkler. According to him, they want to maintain the transatlantic community, that is, what "we are used to calling the West". But according to him, this very West no longer exists, because Trump is taking other paths.
"Europeans will have to think about how to act on their own and not take on the role of the intellectual commentator who says that the books say something else." Otherwise, Europe will resemble someone who "cries and curses but does not intervene in events," Münkler also pointed out in his interview with ZDF.