Brussels, 22 January 2026 (dpa/MIA) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed relief over US President Donald Trump's surprise announcement to no impose additional tariffs on some European countries over a possible agreement on Greenland.

"I am very grateful that President Trump has refrained from his original plans to take over Greenland. And I am also grateful that he has refrained from imposing additional tariffs on February 1," said Merz on Thursday as he arrived at an EU summit in Brussels.

The meeting was originally convened to find a joint response to the threatened tariffs. EU leaders are now focused on drawing lessons from the past days and find a way of dealing with changing transatlantic relations.

Merz said that the "we will have to strengthen the resilience and robustness of the European Union."

"The European Union, the European part of NATO, must be able to defend itself," Merz said, adding that despite progress "we are still a long way from achieving everything we need to achieve."

In addition, the EU has to improve its competitiveness, he said.

Photo: archive