Initially deployed were a small number of troops, about thirty personnel.[10][11][12] However, the initial military planners, reconnaissance teams, were not intended to deter US action by themselves alone. They were to coordinate the arrival of larger land, sea, and air forces publicly pledged by France, and/or other European states: “As well as providing a show of political support, the European troops were said to be on a short scoping mission, according to one country involved. The aim was to establish what a more sustained ground deployment in Greenland could look like, partly to reassure the US that European NATO members were serious about Arctic security”.[13] The troops also act as a tripwire force, such that an attack against them would be considered an act of aggression against the European partners and reacted to accordingly.[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Arctic_Endurance