The United States, Denmark and Greenland announced expected security arrangements to strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic, amid differing descriptions of their substance. US President Donald Trump presented them as an agreement granting Washington a permanent and broad role in Greenland’s security, while Copenhagen and Nuuk stressed that they did not affect Danish sovereignty, the territorial integrity of the kingdom or the island’s people’s right to self-determination.
Signing date and parliamentary procedures
The Danish government said the three parties expected to sign the agreement the following week, alongside meetings of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. After signing, the agreement will undergo the necessary national parliamentary procedures before entering into force.
Trump said the United States had reached an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland granting it what he described as permanent control over security and other needs on the island. He added that the arrangements would prevent any US adversary from establishing a base, deploying forces or making sensitive investments in Greenland without Washington’s explicit written approval.
The US president described the agreement as open-ended and said his country would immediately begin work to develop a major military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland. He also presented the understanding as a gain for the United States, Denmark, Greenland and their allies, saying it addressed US security concerns without imposing costs on Washington.
Copenhagen and Nuuk affirm protection of sovereignty
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, meanwhile, said the expected arrangements would strengthen shared security in the Arctic and North Atlantic and serve NATO and Europe. She stressed that the agreement also recognised the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark, its territorial integrity and the right of the people of Greenland to self-determination.
Greenland’s head of government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, welcomed the understanding, saying it would guarantee and strengthen Greenland’s security, along with that of the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance. He added that the agreement recognised the island’s interests and position in international cooperation, saying it served the interests of the parties concerned.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said signing the expected agreement could end a long period of uncertainty, explaining that Copenhagen hoped to approve a binding agreement that would strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic. He added that the arrangements respected what he described as Denmark’s red lines and were important in light of the changing security situation in the region.
Uncertainty over US bases and powers
The agreement’s practical limits and the scope of the expected US powers remain unclear because its full text has not been published. Media reports said Washington might plan to establish three new military bases in southern Greenland, in addition to Pituffik Space Base, which it operates in the north of the island. However, the official Danish announcement gave no details on the number or locations of the facilities.
A US State Department official said the agreement included mechanisms to prevent Russia or China from establishing bases or sending forces to Greenland, and would also allow investments in sensitive sectors to be blocked. Trump had repeatedly warned that Moscow and Beijing were seeking to strengthen their influence on the island, amid growing competition over resources and shipping routes in the Arctic.
Previous defence agreement sets out military presence
Danish analysts believe Washington already had the ability to strengthen its military presence in Greenland, provided it notified Denmark and the island’s government in advance, under a defence agreement dating back to 1951 and updated in 2004.
Mark Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, said Trump’s main gain was his ability to present the agreement as a political victory. The United States currently operates Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, using it for early missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance missions.
Washington had 17 military facilities and more than 10,000 troops on the island during the height of the Cold War, before reducing its deployment to one base. Greenland is strategically important because of its location on the shortest route between Russia and the United States, as well as its untapped rare-earth mineral reserves.
The island, which has a population of about 57,000, is also expected to grow in importance as ice recedes and new sea routes emerge in the Arctic. The agreement comes after months of tension over the island’s future, following repeated statements by Trump that it should come under US control for national security reasons, and his refusal to rule out using force to achieve that.
The statements prompted objections in Denmark and Greenland and criticism from Europe, before the dispute eased and the parties moved towards negotiating new security arrangements.
