US to open two Cold War-era military bases in Greenland after historic deal

President Donald Trump is due to meet with leaders of Greenland and Denmark on Tuesday to sign a deal that will allow a larger US military presence on Greenland and could end a standoff over the strategically located and mineral-rich island.

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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.

Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic force to acquire it triggered a diplomatic crisis in January within NATO and forced Denmark and the island’s government into intensive negotiations.

US to open two new bases

The agreement they reached will allow the US to expand its military footprint in Greenland, three people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

In addition to the existing Pituffik Space Base, 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, an elite Danish special forces unit.

Trump will meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at 10:30 a.m. ET (1630 GMT) at the UN General Assembly in New York for the trilateral signing ceremony.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has said the agreement will place Arctic security under NATO’s collective watch rather than leaving it to Washington and Copenhagen alone.

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Trump said on Friday that the deal gives the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.” 

Denmark has not responded to Trump’s assertion but has said the agreement respects the kingdom’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self-determination.

The text remains unpublished ahead of Tuesday’s signing. It remains unclear whether the agreement amends a 1951 defense treaty that has been the legal basis for US presence, or operates as a new framework.

The deal marks a retreat 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 over 10,000 personnel there.

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