The United States, Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday signed a security agreement expanding US involvement in Greenland’s defence while affirming Danish sovereignty over the Arctic territory.
US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Greenland and Denmark signed an agreement on Tuesday that permits a larger US military presence on Greenland and may resolve a standoff over the strategically located and mineral-rich island.
The agreement, signed during Trump's visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, stops short of Trump's repeated demands that the US annex Greenland as a US territory, which he claimed was necessary to head off Russia and China's growing presence in the Arctic.
But the deal does permit a greater US military presence on the icy territory, an option that emerged as Greenland's leaders argued against a complete US takeover.
A text of the deal released after the signing event said the US can establish a "Golden Dome" defence system in Greenland as a shield against ballistic missile threats. The shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island, which is the location of the northernmost US military base.
Watch moreGreenland agreement 'doesn't really give the US many more rights', expert says
In his speech to the assembled world leaders at the UN before the signing ceremony, Trump said the agreement gives the US "permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory".
"No US adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland any more, or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval," Trump said.
Trump signed the agreement along with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen in a trilateral ceremony after Trump gave his UN speech.
Frederiksen described the agreement as a deal that can "last forever" and said it underlines the importance of the NATO alliance and respects Greenland's right to self-determination.
'Two very major military bases'
Nielsen emphasised the importance of NATO in the Arctic region.
"We believe that it is vital to keep NATO strong, also in the Arctic, where the alliance has a key role to play," he said.
Greenland, a former colony and now a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, sits between the Arctic and North America and holds vast energy resources.
The US already operates Pituffik Space Base in remote northwestern Greenland. The deal is expected to open two new military sites: Narsarsuaq, a former Cold War airbase whose population has dwindled to just a few dozen, and Mestersvig, currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit.
"We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate location. We will be building two very major military bases," Trump said in his UN speech.
Trump's threats to use military or economic force to annex Greenland triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO in January and forced Denmark and the island's government into months of intensive negotiations.
"The reason why we can conclude this agreement, which is beneficial from Greenlandic, American, and European perspectives, as well as on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark, is that it is a matter of security policy," Frederiksen said in New York on Monday.
The text of the deal says the agreement amends a 1951 defence treaty that has been the legal basis for the US presence.
The deal marks a shift from Trump's earlier ambitions for an outright acquisition of Greenland, an island three times the size of Texas with a population of only 57,000 scattered along its rugged coastline.
But it represents a significant expansion of US military infrastructure on the island – the first major increase since the Cold War, when the US maintained 17 installations and more than 10,000 personnel there.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
