The EU’s little-known way to save Greenland without NATO

BRUSSELS — If President Donald Trump uses military force to take over Greenland, Denmark has options beyond NATO.

The core of Denmark’s security rests on the transatlantic alliance — but that’s likely to be of little help in a confrontation with the U.S. as America dominates NATO.

Instead, Denmark could trigger a little-known clause in the EU treaties: Article 42.7, the European Union’s common defense pact.

While some analysts claim it’s actually stronger than NATO’s better-known Article 5 common defense provision, Article 42.7 comes with a lot of caveats and unknowns.