Published
Greenland, Denmark and the United States expect to sign an agreement on security in the Arctic and North Atlantic at the United Nations General Assembly next week, the three governments announced September 18. The agreement takes effect only after “the necessary national parliamentary procedures,” the joint announcement says, which means it must clear Greenland’s own parliament as well as Denmark’s.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who leads Greenland’s government as Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, spoke for Greenland in the announcement. “It is encouraging that we are about to make an agreement that will ensure and strengthen the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States, and the Western Alliance,” he said. “The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in the international cooperation.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the deal “recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.”
President Trump described it in broader terms. The agreement, he wrote, “gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” He said it has no expiry date, bars adversaries of the United States from sensitive investments on the island without American approval, and lets Washington begin building a larger military presence there immediately. The published text of the agreement is not yet available.
A senior State Department official described the terms further to reporters, Reuters reported. The agreement grants the United States “permanent access, basing and overflight rights,” the official said, and those rights “would continue to apply even if Greenland becomes independent.” It also bars countries outside NATO from building bases on the island. The United States already holds broad basing and overflight rights in Greenland under a defense agreement signed in 1951.
The deal ends more than a year of strain. After returning to office, the President called on Denmark to sell Greenland to the United States and would not rule out force. Denmark and Greenland rejected every offer.
Greenland’s leaders have a firm legal footing for insisting on their own voice. Under the Act on Greenland Self-Government, which Denmark adopted in 2009, the island’s future belongs to its people. “Decision regarding Greenland’s independence shall be taken by the people of Greenland,” the law says. Any agreement on independence must be approved by Greenland’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, and endorsed by a referendum in Greenland.
The three governments have announced a deal. Greenland’s elected parliament has not yet voted on it.
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