Von der Leyen heads to Greenland as EU seeks materials for green transition

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is heading to Greenland as melting Arctic ice, demand for green-technology raw materials and competition from China increase the territory's strategic importance. While not in the EU, the autonomous Danish territory is of strong interest to Brussels, especially for highly sought after raw materials - it believes it has 25 of the 34 that it needs. During a two-day trip with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, Von der Leyen will first travel to the Faroe Islands on Thursday before visiting Greenland the following day to open a new EU…