Denmark, Greenland and US sign ‘permanent’ Arctic security deal
The deal, which updates a defence arrangement dating back to 1951, is designed to be permanent and has no set end date, according to its text.
Denmark, Greenland and the United States have signed an agreement to strengthen security across the Arctic and North Atlantic, the three governments have said.
US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the agreement at the UN building in New York on 22 September, the Danish prime minister’s office said.
According to the statement, the United States, Denmark and Greenland will each keep one signed copy of the agreement, in English, Danish and Greenlandic respectively.
Nielsen said the deal “recognises that we are a people with the right to self-determination”, adding: “We are at the same time recognised as part of our shared security in the Arctic.”
Frederiksen said the agreement “strengthens our shared defence and security” and was “deeply rooted in Nato cooperation”.
The signing had been expected since 18 September, when the Danish prime minister’s office first published quotes from Frederiksen and Nielsen about the prospective deal.
Frederiksen had then welcomed the prospect of “a good agreement for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark and USA”, adding it would be “also good for Nato and Europe”.
Frederiksen added the agreement would “simultaneously recognise the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination”.
Nielsen, premier of Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s government, had said the deal would “secure and strengthen security for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, USA and the western alliance”.
Nielsen added that the agreement “recognises Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation”, and would be “to the benefit of us all”.
The agreement “does not have an end date” and can only be changed by mutual consent, according to its text published by the White House. If Greenland becomes independent, the text says the new state must agree to remain in Nato and take on Denmark’s obligations under the agreement.
The agreement also allows the US to “modernize and expand” its activities at Pituffik Space Base and to establish further defence areas in Greenland, the text shows. No country outside Nato may set up military installations or keep a “persistent presence of military forces” in Greenland unless the parties agree otherwise, it adds.
The agreement will take effect once Denmark and Greenland notify the United States, through a diplomatic note, that they have completed the required parliamentary procedures, according to the text.
