Denmark said on Monday it would spend 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.05 billion) boosting its military capabilities in the Arctic – a decision that comes amid continuing furor following US President Donald Trump’s renewed interest in controlling Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The agreement aims to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region,” according to a statement from Denmark’s Ministry of Defense.
“At the same time, support to Allies and NATO’s efforts in the Arctic and North Atlantic is essential to strengthening overall security and defense,” the statement added.
As part of the investment package, Denmark will fund three new Arctic naval vessels, two long-range drones with the ability to conduct surveillance over large areas and increased admission to Arctic basic military training.
“We must face the fact that there are serious challenges regarding security and defense in the Arctic and North Atlantic,” Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark’s minister of defense, said. “For this reason, we must strengthen our presence in the region. That is the objective of this agreement, which paves the way for further initiatives already this year.”
Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark’s minister of statehood and foreign affairs, added that “Greenland is facing a changing security landscape.”
The announcement comes after the European Union said it was “not negotiating” on the sovereignty of Greenland
Asked if the EU should negotiate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Denmark, EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: “No, we are not negotiating on Greenland. Of course, we are supporting our member state Denmark and its autonomous region, Greenland.”
‘US shifts to a more transactional approach’
Trump, who took office on January 20, has previously described US control of Greenland as an “absolute necessity.” Both Greenland and Denmark have said previously that the island is not for sale.
The question to Kallas on Monday came after she told a press conference that Europe needed to “close ranks” as the “United States shifts to a more transactional approach” in its foreign relations.
She told the same conference that the US was an “important ally” and that America and Europe were “very much interlinked,” but added that “it’s not like somebody is telling us what to do and we are following” and warned against further speculation over Greenland.
“We shouldn’t also go into speculation about the ‘what ifs,’ because this is not the situation right now,” she said.
Still, US and Danish officials have said they don’t understand the incoming president’s obsession with acquiring Greenland, which Trump has called “an absolute necessity,” particularly because the US already has a decades-old defense agreement with the territory that has allowed the US to build up a significant military presence — including troops and radar systems — on the world’s largest island.
Despite those rebuttals, the debate over Greenland’s future has been stirred up by growing speculation over its independence movement.
In his New Year’s speech, Greenland’s prime minister said the island should break free from “the shackles of colonialism” – though the speech did not mention the United States.