European stocks slipped mostly lower Thursday, as heightened geopolitical concerns following U.S. threats to seize Greenland, in the wake of the deposing of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, weighed on sentiment.

At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany climbed 0.2%, while the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.1% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.3%. 

Greenland’s future in spotlight

European investors are on high alert following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to potentially use military force to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

The U.S. military action in Venezuela over the weekend, which resulted in President Nicolas Maduro being captured and transported to the U.S., has rekindled worries in Europe that Greenland might be next in line.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday he will meet with Danish officials next week.

“If the president identifies a threat to the national security of the United States, every president retains the option to address it through military means. As a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways,” Rubio told reporters.

The U.S. and Denmark are both NATO members and a U.S. military seizure of Greenland would probably mark the end of the alliance.

German factory orders jump

German factory orders jumped 5.6% on the month in November, suggesting the eurozone’s largest economy had a healthy end to last year, while British house prices fell 0.6% in December, on a monthly basis, according to data from Halifax.

That said, the main economic data release this week comes from across the Atlantic, in the form of Friday’s all-important U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

Fed policymakers have said that employment is their focal point when it comes to deciding what to do with interest rates, with investors currently pricing in two rate cuts this year.

Sodexo sees organic revenue growth 

In the corporate sector, French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO) reported a 1.8% organic rise in its first-quarter revenue, slightly above market forecasts, but negative currency exchange effects resulted in reported revenue declining 2.2%.

U.K. bakery chain Greggs (LON:GRG) reported a solid finish to the year, with fourth-quarter total sales rising 7.4% and company-managed shop like-for-like sales up 2.9%.

Crude prices bounce higher

Oil prices rose Thursday after consecutive losing days, helped by a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude inventories, although the focus remained on developments in Venezuela.

Brent futures gained 0.3% to $60.11 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2% to $56.11 a barrel.

U.S. crude stocks dropped by 3.8 million barrels to 419.1 million barrels in the week ended January 2, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with expectations for a relatively small rise.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Trump administration is considering exerting some control over Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, in an initiative to control the Venezuelan oil industry for years.