The United States, Denmark and Greenland have signed a new defence agreement allowing Washington to establish two additional military areas in Greenland while reaffirming Denmark’s sovereignty over the Arctic territory.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday during a ceremony on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, bringing an apparent end to more than a year of tension over the strategic territory.
US President Donald Trump said Washington would move quickly to increase its military presence in Greenland.
“we will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,” Trump said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the agreement as beneficial to all three parties, as well as Europe and NATO, while Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called it a “win-win-win”.
The deal updates a 1951 defence agreement between Denmark and the US and permits Washington to establish additional defence areas at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig in the east.
Narsarsuaq has access to deep water and a large runway, with Danish media reporting that US military engineers recently inspected the site.
Mestersvig, meanwhile, is a remote and less-developed location currently used by a Danish naval dog-sled unit.
The agreement does not yet provide the specific arrangements for the two new bases. Their “modalities and technical details” will have to be agreed upon by all three parties.
The US already operates the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, and the new agreement permits Washington to “modernise and expand its activities” there.
The agreement also restricts other countries from establishing military installations or maintaining a permanent military presence on the territory.
It states that “no state that is not a member of NATO shall be allowed to establish its own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland nor shall they be allowed a persistent presence of military forces in Greenland”.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Trump said the agreement would create a stronger security relationship.
“We going to have a tremendous relationship, a secure relationship.”
“This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States, for everybody, and for Greenland it’s going to be incredible.”
Frederiksen described the agreement as a “milestone in our long-standing co-operation”, noting that the two countries had maintained a defence arrangement over Greenland for decades.
“Seventy-five years ago we entered into an agreement about the defence of Greenland. Today, we’re signing an even bigger and better agreement – a deal that can last forever.”
The Danish prime minister also stressed that the agreement recognised Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to determine its own future.
The agreement “respects sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as Greenland’s right to self-determination”.
Nielsen said Greenland had been directly involved in the agreement rather than simply being the subject of an arrangement between Washington and Copenhagen.
“For Greenland, it is not only an agreement about us, it is [an] agreement with us.
“It takes into account the people of Greenland, our rights, our livelihoods and the development of our country.
“Greenland matters for North American security and for transatlantic security,” he said, adding that NATO had an important role in the North Atlantic as the security environment changes.
The agreement also states that Greenland would remain within NATO if it eventually became independent from Denmark.
The original 1951 defence agreement already gave the US broad rights to deploy troops to Greenland, while more than 100 American military personnel are currently permanently stationed at the Pituffik base.
The latest agreement follows months of pressure from Trump over Greenland. He had previously discussed purchasing or annexing the territory, citing US national security concerns and the island’s strategic location.
Trump has also argued that Greenland is important to US efforts to counter potential threats from Russia and China and has linked the territory to his proposed “Golden Dome” defence system.
However, the new agreement makes only one reference to the project and does not contain a concrete proposal for its development in Greenland.
Greenland also possesses substantial deposits of rare earth minerals, many of which are important to the production of technologies such as mobile phones and electric vehicles.
Trump said last week that the new agreement would come with “no cost to the United States”.
NATO welcomed the deal, with a spokesperson saying it would “help advance security, stability and cooperation in this vital region”.
