Denmark, Greenland and the United States will sign an agreement on Greenland’s security tomorrow, in a move Copenhagen says will place responsibility for Arctic defence within NATO rather than leaving it solely to Washington and Denmark.
The agreement is due to be signed at the UN General Assembly in New York at 10.30am local time (3.30pm Irish time). Its contents have not been released, although President Donald Trump has said it gives the US “permanent control”.
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Neither Denmark nor Greenland has responded directly to Mr Trump’s claim. Both have said the agreement will serve the Arctic island’s interests while respecting its sovereignty.
A White House official said Mr Trump will meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen in New York for a trilateral signing ceremony.
Donald Trump said the deal gave the US ‘permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland’
The agreement comes after months of pressure from Mr Trump, who has argued that the United States should control Greenland and, at points, declined to rule out military or economic force to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
His comments, which intensified in January, sparked a diplomatic crisis inside NATO and drove Denmark and Greenland into talks with Washington in an effort to ease the pressure.
“It (the agreement) will be in a form where responsibility for security in the Arctic is not only Danish or American,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told national broadcaster TV2 on Sunday.
He said NATO would “to a large extent” be responsible for looking after the Arctic.
Boosting NATO’s ‘cohesion’
It was not immediately clear whether the agreement would alter an existing 1951 defence pact that provides the legal foundation for the US military presence in Greenland.
“It appears that we are now using this crisis to try to strengthen NATO’s cohesion through Greenland,” said Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).
Washington’s strategic focus on Greenland stretches back to World War Two. In 1941, the US struck an agreement with Danish envoy Henrik Kauffmann, who acted without authorisation from Copenhagen while Denmark was occupied by Germany.
Greenland’s government has sought to reassure the public about the deal
The United States pursued the agreement to prevent Greenland from falling into German hands and to protect the North Atlantic supply route linking North America and Europe.
As part of the arrangement, the US established airfields, naval facilities and weather stations across the island. By 1943, the American military presence had grown to about 5,500 personnel, according to DIIS.
In 1946, former president Harry Truman offered $100 million in gold to purchase Greenland as a strategic asset, but Copenhagen rejected the proposal. A new agreement followed in 1951, granting the US military broad rights on the island while linking those rights to NATO’s existence.
“I don’t think Denmark and Greenland will sign if the same NATO clause isn’t included,” said Gad.
Promoting ‘security, stability and cooperation’
During the Cold War, the US operated 17 military facilities in Greenland and stationed more than 10,000 personnel there. Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with approximately 150 US military personnel.
A NATO spokesperson said on Saturday that the alliance welcomed the new agreement, saying it would “help advance security, stability and cooperation in this vital region”.
Read more:US, Denmark reach Greenland security agreementGreenland and Denmark say deal with US will not impact sovereignty
Mr Rasmussen, who travelled overnight to New York, refused to reveal details of the agreement.
“But we have said from the start that we are open to accommodating the United States’ legitimate security interests,” he told Danish news agency Ritzau.
In a post on Truth Social last Friday, Mr Trump said the agreement gave the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland”. He also said no US adversary could establish a base or military presence there without Washington’s written approval.
Denmark has not addressed that assertion. Copenhagen has previously acknowledged that it underinvested in Greenland’s defence for decades and has promised to increase its military presence on the island, including by deploying more NATO troops.
Greenland’s government has worked to reassure the public over the agreement.
Erik Jensen, an opposition MP in Greenland, said on Facebook that he had seen the draft agreement.
“I feel reassured and am not worried,” he said, adding that the island’s foreign minister was managing the process effectively.
