Trump announces a pact with Denmark to assume the security of Greenland

WashingtonUnited States President Donald Trump has announced a “historic” security pact with Denmark regarding Greenland, the Arctic island over which the leader has repeatedly expressed his annexationist aspirations. the leader has repeatedly expressed his annexationist aspirations. The Republican communicated the agreement via Truth Social. Shortly after, the Danish government confirmed that next week it will sign an agreement with the US and the Greenland executive to "strengthen security" on the Arctic island during the United Nations General Assembly, which will take place in New York starting Monday, September 21. Even NATO has celebrated the pact. Beyond the triumphalist language, many details remain to be specified to adequately analyze the nature of the agreement, as it is also unclear what changes regarding the agreement on the Arctic island that has already existed since 1951 between Washington and Copenhagen.

“The United States has reached an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland that grants the United States permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland, and that fully addresses all our concerns,” Trump wrote grandiloquently. According to the president, the US will “always have full capacity to do whatever is necessary in Greenland to ensure and defend the security” of the island and of Americans. The Republican also stated that “no adversary” of Washington will be able to “ever” have a base or maintain a military presence in the autonomous territory without it first being authorized by the US in writing. Trump asserts that they will be the protectors of the island and that it is an “infinite” agreement.

Although the full content of the agreement has not yet been released, US sources consulted by Efe ensure that it guarantees the United States a permanent role in the security of Greenland and that any adversary of Washington will be prohibited from having a military presence or unauthorized investments on the island. According to Washington, the pact grants the United States the ability to "do what is necessary in Greenland" to ensure the security of the island and the US, including the aforementioned permanent presence on the island and overflight rights, in addition to allowing for an increase in the number of US bases if necessary.

"Good perspective" in Copenhagen

For her part, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen welcomed the "good prospect" of an agreement that "strengthens common security" and at the same time "recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Denmark and the "right of the people of Greenland to self-determination," according to the statement. She added: "I am pleased that there is the prospect of a good agreement for Greenland, which strengthens our shared security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region and which, therefore, also benefits NATO and Europe." A few hours later, the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, defended the security agreement reached with Washington with the argument that "the situation in the Arctic has changed."

In turn, the government of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, stated that the agreement with the United States preserves the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this Arctic island, as noted on his social networks by the autonomous president of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Nielsen highlights that it will benefit not only the collective security of this island of about 56,000 inhabitants, but also its continued development. "The agreement reflects what we have said from the beginning, that Greenland's position be recognized. The right to self-determination is recognized and the Greenlandic people are recognized in accordance with international law," added the Greenlandic Foreign Minister, Múte B. Egede.

The agreement comes after months of controversial negotiations between the United States and Denmark, in the face of pressure from Washington and regarding a possible military expansion of the world's leading power on the island, an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark. It is expected that the pact will serve to put an end to the American president's threats to forcibly annex the territory of a NATO member.

In May, it was learned that the Pentagon intends to open three new bases. Trump, who has threatened on several occasions to buy or directly invade the island militarily, wanted these facilities to be designated as sovereign territory of the United States, a demand that his interlocutors opposed.

Rutte's NATO celebrates the agreement

We will have to be very attentive, however, to what the reaction of the European Union and the member states is, at a time of crisis with the alliance of the United States and in which Europe is looking for alternatives to stop depending solely on Washington's security umbrella. The agreement announced by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this week with Canada was moving in this direction.From Brussels, NATO's reaction was not long in coming, now led by the Dutchman Mark Rutte, an expert in the art of genuflection before Trump. In a statement, the Atlantic Alliance says it has welcomed the agreement reached between the United States, Denmark and Greenland. "The Arctic and the North Atlantic are fundamental to our collective security," noted the organization, which considers that the agreement will allow for progress in security, stability and cooperation in the region and assures that it will continue to strengthen its own presence in the Arctic.

The strategic relevance of the region has also increased for NATO in the face of growing activity from Russia and China. This year, the Alliance launched the Arctic Sentry initiative to strengthen surveillance and defense of the northern flank, a strategy in which allies with territory or direct interests in the Arctic are particularly involved.

The announcement comes after a delegation from Denmark and Greenland traveled to Washington in January of this year to address Trump's annexationist threats. The Arctic island has constantly reiterated the sovereignty of the territory and that it does not want to be property of the USA. Following that meeting with the White House, the Greenlandic and Danish representatives stated that there was a “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the island, but that they were open to continuing to negotiate to find common ground with Washington.

The island's imperialist claims respond to Trump's theory on the need to control strategic territories for the security of the USA. They also respond to new changing international dynamics and a more aggressive global climate, where the law of the strongest seems to prevail once again. The American presence in Greenland, in any case, is not new. The United States maintains the Pituffik Space Base there, key to early warning and Arctic surveillance systems, under the defense agreement signed with Denmark in 1951.