Thanks to Trump, European leaders are rediscovering international law
Many in Europe continue to view the Greenland crisis as an opportunity for greater self-reliance in defence matters, after realising that the United States has become a potential threat even to its closest allies. Another benefit, however, should be acknowledged: Europe has begun to rediscover international law.
European leaders and the chorus of commentators around them are now invoking it after having long looked the other way in numerous cases and developments, some of them until quite recently. For years, international law was marginalised, ignored or selectively applied, particularly when violations were committed by allies or inflicted on people beyond Europe’s borders.
The latest escalation by the US administration on the Greenland issue came in the first days of this year.
More precisely, it came immediately after launching a surprise attack on Caracas and abducting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, parading them humiliatingly before the cameras on their way to New York.
What did Europe say about Venezuela? The European Union issued a very timid statement on behalf of its member states, except Hungary, led by Viktor Orban, a close ally of US President Donald Trump.
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The joint European statement made no mention of the nature of the incident, violations of state sovereignty or even international law. By failing to express any condemnation, disapproval or even concern, it sent a clear political message that Europe did not object to what had happened or view it as a specific violation.
What followed is well known: Trump promptly launched a public campaign threatening to seize Greenland, the vast Danish island whose area is equivalent to half the territory of the EU.
From that moment of shock onwards, the term "international law" suddenly became highly desirable and began to feature prominently in official communiques, statements by officials and political platforms across Europe. European leaders abruptly rediscovered that there is such a thing as international law that must be respected.
Selective law
Europe's political establishment has a long record of selectively invoking international law while ignoring it at other times, as reflected most acutely in its response to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
It is exceedingly difficult to find explicit references to international law in European statements and declarations related to the war waged by the Israeli military on Gaza for more than two years, except in a handful of European capitals.
Most European leaders, whether at the EU level or the national level, have shown little interest in reminding the world that international law is being openly trampled in Gaza and in Palestine more broadly
Most European leaders, whether at the EU level or the national level, have shown little interest in reminding the world that international law is being openly trampled in Gaza and in Palestine more broadly.
This silence has persisted amid mass slaughter, widespread destruction, horrific starvation and the terrorisation of civilians - atrocities that have been broadcast directly from the field and witnessed by the world around the clock.
Europe's political leadership did not even engage with the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on 19 July 2024, which affirmed the illegality of the Israeli occupation and the need to bring it to an end.
It also failed to heed the 12-month deadline set in September 2024 by a United Nations General Assembly resolution, based on the court's ruling, to end Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The deadline expired, as expected, and Europe chose not to recall it.
Instead, European leaders busied themselves with reiterating their customary rhetorical commitment to the two-state solution, without taking any practical steps to implement the UN resolution, revoke Israel's privileged partnership with the EU or impose sanctions that might enable an independent Palestinian state to take shape on the ground.
Applauding impunity
Rather than supporting Palestinian independence in any meaningful way, European leaders rushed to welcome Trump's plan for Gaza, announced alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
Official Europe then appeared in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in a posture of enthusiastic applause for Trump, warmly embracing his so-called "peace plan". European officials and others hastened to pose for photographs with him on the podium.
Yet the substance of the plan was chilling.
Trump presented himself as the supreme ruler of the Gaza Strip, surrounded by his close associates and friends, imposing a colonial-style vision for governing Gaza, one that humiliates the dignity of the Palestinian people, disregards any existing Palestinian authority and fails to meet the requirements of the "two-state solution".
European leaders showed no desire at that point to recall international law, which had already been crushed by the horrific genocide and ultimately placed beneath Trump's boot, even as he openly repudiates the UN and deprives its agencies of the ability to operate in Gaza.
Trump soon attempted to test this acquisitive model on his European allies themselves. Only then did complaints about violations of international law grow more vocal, with some leaders warning publicly of a return to colonial practices.
Europe's political class, as well as segments of its media and cultural spheres, cannot be absolved of responsibility for encouraging Washington's excesses.
The world has witnessed consistent European positions under both the Biden and Trump administrations that have refrained from making necessary references to international law or from offering fabricated justifications for grave violations in certain cases, driven by interests or alliances.
It is pitiful to see European officials, including leaders of the Danish government, now pleading the case for international law when their own sovereignty, interests and the security of their countries and continent are at stake, as though they have only just discovered the term in a box of forgotten relics.
Lessons ignored
The Greenland crisis should not surprise us. Numerous voices around the world have warned of precisely such dangerous slippages if tolerance for grave atrocities and horrific violations, such as those committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, were to continue.
I, myself, was among the signatories of a global declaration issued in January 2024 by intellectuals, religious leaders, public figures, writers and artists, warning that international politics was sliding towards the very condition Europe is now experiencing.
Issued under the title "The Unfolding Atrocities in Gaza Challenge the Morality of the Entire World", the declaration cautioned against the consequences of sidelining treaties and laws that jeopardise global peace and the interests of nations by undermining international law and international humanitarian law.
It warned that selectively invoking, upholding or inactivating values, principles and conventions according to political priorities erodes their credibility.
Furthermore, it states that "a world that decides to selectively employ its values and laws, where human lives are not equal in rights, freedoms and dignity, is an unjust world that sows anger and discord among generations who recognise the gap between lofty slogans and terrifying practices".
These warnings have multiplied around the world. Yet European and western decision-making centres appear largely indifferent to them.
Europe's political leadership does not seem open to ethical self-criticism, unwilling to acknowledge the consequences of its selective invocation or neglect of international law, or even to admit the global crisis of moral credibility it faces.
Senior European officials did not heed even the warnings voiced by Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, when he cautioned from the floor of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 18 October 2023 that Europe would lose its "moral authority" if it continued to act on Gaza in a manner that contradicted its stance on Ukraine.
"It is clearly stated that depriving a human community under siege of a basic water supply is contrary to international law - in Ukraine and in Gaza... And if we are unable to say so, for both places, we lack the moral authority necessary to make our voice heard," Borrell said.
Borrell's warnings fell on deaf ears. The EU did not even reach a collective position in support of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip until 21 March 2024, nearly six months after the outbreak of the horrific genocidal war, and even then, without condemning violations of international law in Gaza.
Moral reckoning
The depth of this contradiction must be recalled. Europe encouraged Trump in September 2025 to pursue a quasi-colonial plan to control the Gaza Strip, one that violated international law and lacked any democratic foundation, only to reject the application of similar logic elsewhere, such as in Greenland.
Europe also adopted a strikingly muted response to the invasion of a Latin American country and the abduction of its president, after having forcefully and rightly rejected the invasion of Ukraine, an Eastern European state.
If Europe were not disturbed by the violation of a country's sovereignty in the Global South, what would prevent such violations from shifting northwards?
Has Europe learned the lesson? Failure to take principled positions and persistent complacency can rebound with grave consequences. Justifying violations turns them into an acceptable mode of conduct and invites further escalation.
If Europe were not disturbed by the violation of a country's sovereignty in the Global South, what would prevent such violations from shifting northwards?
And if most European leaders did not protest the dismantling of international law in Palestine or elsewhere, nor attempt to use their influence to confront it, what would restrain the appetite for acquisition and expansion of a superpower boasting overwhelming military strength under a reckless president who parades stealth aircraft in the Oval Office?
Recalling these facts should not diminish sincere solidarity with the people of Greenland, who carry a painful historical memory and are now confronting an aggressive campaign of acquisition - one that flexes power over their frozen land, imposes the American flag in provocative propaganda and accompanies it with military threats.
At the same time, European leaders - including those seated in Copenhagen - must be reminded that restoring the authority of international law cannot be achieved by continuing a selective approach that elevates self-interest above the very conventions meant to be universal and just for all in a shared world.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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