Greenland’s Parliament Approves Defense Pact Opening Door to More U.S. Bases

Lawmakers in Greenland’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, voted 16-0 on Tuesday to approve a defense and security agreement with the United States and Denmark, with seven members abstaining, according to the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Danish broadcaster DR. The vote clears Greenland’s side of a deal that could allow the U.S. military to expand on the Arctic island.

President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the accord on Sept. 22 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It followed months of tension over Trump’s repeated calls for the United States to take control of the island, the AP reported.

Terms of the Arctic agreement

The agreement amends a 1951 defense pact between Washington and Copenhagen. According to the text published by the White House:

• The United States may modernize and expand its activities at Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland.
• The U.S. may set up additional defense areas at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, with details to be agreed by the parties.
• Any further defense areas would go through consultations among the three governments.
• Contracts for building and servicing the sites are to go to Greenlandic companies to the maximum extent possible.
• The agreement has no end date and can be changed only by mutual consent.

Pituffik is currently the only U.S. military base on the island and is central to missile defense and radar surveillance, the German news agency dpa reported. Greenland remains under Danish control under the deal, and its terms would still apply if the island later became independent, Al Jazeera reported.

Reaction in Nuuk

Foreign Minister Múte B. Egede told DR he was glad and relieved after a long process. In a Facebook post quoted by Al Jazeera, he wrote that “the road to this point has been a difficult one for us as a people,” adding that Greenland had “stood firm on our fundamental principles.”

Copenhagen vote and U.S. approval

Denmark’s parliament, the Folketing, is scheduled to begin its review on Nov. 12 and is expected to finish on Nov. 19, DR reported. The agreement takes effect once the United States receives a diplomatic note confirming that both parliaments have approved it.

No vote is needed in the U.S. Senate. The administration is treating the deal as an executive agreement because the 1951 pact it builds on was handled the same way, DR reported.

Sources: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, DR, dpa, Ritzau, The White House.