The United States, Denmark and Greenland have signed a deal on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, granting Washington a greater military presence on the continent-sized Arctic island. After years of tensions between the US and Denmark, which holds sovereignty over the autonomous and resource-rich territory of Greenland, Tuesday’s agreement resolves a key point of contention among Western transatlantic allies. It is set to expand a longstanding US presence just as great-power competition with Russia and China heats up.
The agreement allows Washington to “modernise and expand” its activities at the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland. Bases will be established at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east with the option to “establish additional defense areas” and expand operations. It also permits US aircraft to fly over and land anywhere in Greenland, including its territorial waters while also granting “undersea access”.
No non-NATO country will be allowed to set up military installations or a “persistent” military presence in Greenland without unanimous approval by Denmark, Greenland and the US. The agreement also bars investors from “sensitive sectors” outside NATO and the European Union. The accord does not have an end date.
If Greenland becomes independent, it will remain in NATO and assume Denmark’s obligations under the deal. The deal follows a months-long standoff after Trump threatened to seize Greenland, prompting warnings from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that a US takeover would end the NATO alliance. Since 1945, the US military presence in Greenland shrank from thousands of troops across 17 bases to about 200 stationed at the remote Pituffik base.
Frederiksen called the new agreement “a deal that can last forever”, while Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen described it as “a win-win-win”, saying: “Your security is our security, and our security is your security.” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Council President Antonio Costa both welcomed the deal, with the latter calling it “a positive step for transatlantic cooperation and Arctic security”, grounded in “respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination”.
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