Denmark and Greenland Say Expanded US Military Deal Won’t Compromise Greenland’s Sovereignty
Denmark and Greenland moved Saturday to reassure that an emerging security agreement with the United States will not erode Greenland’s sovereignty, after President Donald Trump described the deal as giving Washington “permanent control” over the strategic Arctic island’s security.
In a statement, Copenhagen and Greenland’s semiautonomous government said any expanded US military presence would be carried out without compromising the island’s sovereignty. They expressed hope the deal would ease recent friction with Washington.
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the proposed arrangement. “The agreement recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination,” he wrote on Facebook.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen struck a similarly optimistic note. “Next week could be a good week – for Greenland, Denmark and the United States,” he said on Facebook. “A time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the north Atlantic, and thereby our shared security within Nato Europe – while respecting the Danish kingdom’s red lines.”
The US, Denmark and Greenland said late Friday they had reached a deal allowing the United States to develop a significant military presence on Greenland while barring US adversaries from building their own bases there. The agreement is expected to be signed during the UN General Assembly next week.
Key details remain undisclosed, including the scale of the US military footprint in the self-governing Danish territory and whether Washington would gain any formal authority over foreign policy or resources.
Trump said on social media that under the deal, “the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America.” He added that it would give the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.”
Greenland’s security and mineral wealth have drawn intense attention since the start of Trump’s second term, with officials citing national security, access to critical natural resources including rare earth minerals, and control over emerging Arctic shipping lanes. The island’s location between North America and Europe has long made it central to Washington’s defense planning.
The United States maintained a major military presence on Greenland during the 1950s, when fears of nuclear war with the Soviet Union led to the basing of long-range bombers and early-warning systems there. Today, the US keeps a reduced presence at the Pituffik space base, formerly known as Thule, to monitor missile threats.
Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, told Reuters the Denmark-US deal “is probably not the end of President Trump’s ambitions for Greenland and certainly not the end of US strategic interest in the territory and its resources.”
He added that if Copenhagen cedes any formal power to Washington over Greenland, which it has held for roughly 1,000 years, it would raise questions among Greenlanders about whether “this is the beginning of replacing the colonial relationship with Denmark with a colonial relationship to the United States.”
US ambitions for greater influence over the Arctic island have strained relations within Nato. In January, European member nations sent military personnel to Greenland to demonstrate readiness, and eight European allies issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to Arctic security. Negotiations followed.
A Nato spokesperson said Saturday that the alliance welcomed the agreement, which would “help advance security, stability and cooperation in this vital region.”
Related: US and Denmark reach security deal after Trump’s threats to take over Greenland
Reuters contributed reporting.