<\/p>\n
UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security, paving the way for more U.S. bases in Greenland and easing tensions over his repeated calls for the vast island to become part of the United States.<\/p>\n
The signing on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York comes days after Trump announced the deal to bolster the U.S. military presence on Greenland but keep it under Danish control. The agreement would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is tremendous for Europe and for the United States and for everybody,\u201d Trump said just before the agreement was signed. \u201cAnd for Greenland, it’s going to be incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has expressed his desire to acquire Greenland since as long ago as 2019 and, during his second term, issued threats to seize the semiautonomous territory from Denmark, a NATO ally. On Tuesday, he did not respond to questions about whether a U.S. acquisition of Greenland was off the table.<\/p>\n
Officials from the U.S., Greenland and Denmark negotiated for months behind the scenes, searching for solutions to address some of Trump\u2019s security concerns about the mineral-rich island.<\/p>\n
Trump’s designs on Greenland strained relations within NATO, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warning a U.S. takeover would amount to the end of the Atlantic alliance.<\/p>\n
The standoff unsettled many of Greenland’s roughly 56,000 people and drove a wedge between the U.S. and Denmark and its European Union partners, who stepped up security exercises on and monetary support for the island.<\/p>\n
Trade and hopes for a resource grab have factored into concerns about Greenland\u2019s future. About two-thirds of its territory sits inside the Arctic Circle, where melting sea ice has opened additional shipping routes.<\/p>\n
The United States was prominent in Greenland for decades but, since 1945, the U.S. military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers on 17 bases and installations to roughly 200 soldiers on the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.<\/p>\n
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly ahead of the signing, Trump said the U.S. would \u201cimmediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations,\u201d including \u201cbuilding two very major military bases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denmark\u2019s parliament approved a bill last year to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil, widening a 2023 agreement made with the Biden administration that gave U.S. troops broad access to air bases in Denmark.<\/p>\n
Trump previously insisted the U.S. needed to \u201ctake Greenland,\u201d to prevent Russia or China from doing the same. Though Trump said he would rather \u201c make a deal \u201d for the territory, he added, \u201cone way or the other, we\u2019re going to have Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agreement, released by all three governments after the signing, allows for Washington to \u201cmodernize and expand\u201d its activities at Pituffik.<\/p>\n
It also says the U.S. can set up \u201cdefense areas\u201d at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, and that it \u201cmay establish additional defense areas in Greenland and strengthen its military operations or facilities.\u201d Washington is to award contracts for goods and services related to setting up, maintaining or dismantling such bases \u201cto Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The accord calls for wide U.S. military mobility on Greenland\u2019s territory, including \u201cundersea access.\u201d It says the signatories share an interest in allowing the U.S. military access to Greenland to defend the NATO area, Greenland itself and the American continent \u2014 including through \u201cGolden Dome,\u201d Trump’s planned missile defense system. Frederiksen said no decision had been made on the specifics of that system.<\/p>\n
No non-NATO country will be allowed to set up \u201cits own manned or unmanned military installations in Greenland,\u201d or to have a \u201cpersistent\u201d military presence unless the signatories agree otherwise.<\/p>\n
The accord \u201cdoes not have an end date\u201d and, if Greenland chooses to become independent, it will agree to remain in NATO and take on Denmark\u2019s rights and obligations under the deal.<\/p>\n
Frederiksen on Tuesday called the agreement a \u201cdeal that can last forever,\u201d labeling it as good for the U.S., Greenland, Denmark and the broader NATO alliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. President, you have been very clear: You don\u2019t want adversaries to come too close,\u201d she said. \u201cI fully agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland\u2019s prime minister, called it \u201ca win-win-win agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour security is our security,\u201d he said, \u201cand our security is your security.\u201d<\/p>\n
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who helped turn down the temperature at the height of the crisis in January, celebrated the accord’s signing, writing on X that \u201cthis agreement, along with NATO\u2019s growing role in securing this vital region, enhances our collective security and supports a safer and more stable future for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the standoff won’t be forgotten quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of trust has been tested, I would say,\u201d Naaja Nathanielsen, one of Greenland’s two lawmakers in the Danish parliament and a former government minister in Nuuk, told The Associated Press. \u201cIt\u2019s been really difficult in Greenland and people have been generally afraid and worried about everything, from losing our country to our livelihoods and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Nathanielsen called the accord \u201ca huge step in the right direction,\u201d and praised it as the first binding agreement Greenland has signed as a country.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, that is a huge step forward in our quest for more self-autonomy and a bigger seat at the table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A clearly relieved Frederiksen said at a post-signing appearance with Nielsen that \u201cthe kingdom of Denmark is in a better place than we were yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
She concluded the news conference by saying: \u201cI think we\u2019ll head out soon and get a cold beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also breathing a sigh of relief Tuesday were fellow NATO countries. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that while a lot remains to be seen, the announcement was \u201cvery positive and good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I do hope that this issue is closed because it was not entirely comfortable that you have this discussion between really good friends and allies,\u201d Rinkevics told a small group of reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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