Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Naalakkersuisut Chair Jens-Frederik Nielsen are traveling to New York, where a security agreement between Greenland, Denmark and the United States is expected to be signed in the coming week.
DR reports that very little is known about the content of the deal so far. In its coverage, the broadcaster notes that the main public description comes from US President Donald Trump himself, in a post on Truth Social.
Two Danish researchers have read that post closely. Marc Jacobsen, a lecturer at the Royal Danish Defence College who studies Arctic security policy, and Rasmus Bruun Pedersen, a lecturer in international politics at Aarhus University, both say it appears to be a good agreement for Denmark and Greenland. They point to three specific elements.
Military presence, no end date, and a veto
In his post, Trump stated that the United States will have permanent control over security in Greenland. According to Jacobsen, an increased American military presence was already possible under the existing defense agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States. That agreement dates from 1951 and was updated in 2004.
The second point is duration. Trump wrote that the new agreement has no end, while the 1951 agreement was to remain in force for as long as the North Atlantic Treaty. Speaking to DR’s radio program P1 Morgen, Jacobsen said the old deal was tied to NATO’s existence, while the new one appears tied to the United States and America First.
The third point concerns other countries. Trump wrote that other states will not be allowed military presence or investments in Greenland without American approval. Jacobsen said Washington already had de facto military control, but usually with Denmark as intermediary, and that this document removes that role.
Statements from Copenhagen and Nuuk
According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office, Frederiksen said the agreement strengthens shared security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region. Nielsen said it secures and strengthens security for Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance. Frederiksen has not disclosed the content, citing the need for everything to be in place as agreed.
Pedersen said the text shows that Greenland has been drawn firmly into the American sphere of interest. In his reading, the United States claims both a right and, by its own account, a duty to intervene against threats to American interests.
Pedersen added that the long-term consequences remain open. He noted that American adversaries are usually understood as China and Russia, but that there has also been conflict with Europe and the EU. Whether Washington would oppose larger European investments in Greenland is entirely unclear at present, per his assessment.
