Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign a Greenland security agreement at United Nations headquarters in New York at 16:30 Danish time on Tuesday.
DR reports that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenlandic government leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen and US President Donald Trump are all due to sign the document. The Danish Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the time of the ceremony on Monday.
Frederiksen met the press in New York on Monday evening ahead of the signing. She praised the work of Danish and Greenlandic officials and said she expected not one but three signatures on the document.
Reuters reports that the agreement is intended to allow a larger US military presence in Greenland. It is also meant to prevent non-NATO adversaries from establishing bases on the island. A US State Department official cited by Reuters said the arrangement would give Washington permanent access, basing and overflight rights.
The text of the agreement has not been published. According to BBC, no agreement text had been released ahead of the ceremony, which follows Trump’s earlier threats to take control of Greenland.
Differing descriptions of the deal
Frederiksen has said the agreement recognizes the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, per the BBC. Trump has said the deal gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland, according to Reuters.
Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, senior researcher in American foreign policy at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told DR it is unclear which reading appears in the text. He said the gap could create tensions, especially if journalists press the leaders on it.
Denmark has said Arctic security will fall under NATO responsibility rather than resting with Washington and Copenhagen alone, Reuters reported on September 21. Reuters has also described the ceremony as scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Friis Arne Petersen, a former Danish ambassador to the United States, told DR the signing ranks among the most important days in recent Danish diplomatic history. He said it concerns securing sovereignty over 98 percent of the Danish kingdom’s territory.
Petersen also noted that the deal was negotiated away from public view. He said Trump remains unpredictable and has renegotiated many agreements, so signatures alone guarantee little.
Isabel Bramsen, a peace researcher at Lund University, said the choice of the UN building carries decisive symbolic weight. She described it as relatively neutral ground and pointed to the UN Charter’s emphasis on sovereignty and borders.
According to Bramsen, the Danish and Greenlandic sides are likely to have rehearsed their remarks closely. She expects the signatures to take place before any questions from the press.
