Denmark announced on Wednesday that it is increasing “military presence in and around Greenland in the coming period, involving aircraft, ships, and soldiers.” President Trump has repeatedly criticized the Danes for not doing enough to protect Greenland, and on Wednesday morning he said that anything less than U.S. control of the island was “unacceptable.”
According to a statement from the Danish defense ministry, “security policy tensions have spread to the Arctic,” and its moves to augment its presence there were being done in close cooperation with NATO allies. The statement said there would be more military exercises in Greenland with European and Arctic partners, but it did not mention if American forces would be invited.
Danish news media outlets have broadcast footage of a small military jet landing in Nuuk, Greenland’s snowbound capital, and a few men stepping off.
As part of his rationale for wanting to take over Greenland, Mr. Trump has ridiculed Denmark by claiming it has little more than a few dog sled patrols for the giant island, the world’s largest.
In truth, the Danes have maintained a light military presence in Greenland, but they have recently announced a raft of improvements, including more surveillance flights and more personnel. During the Cold War, the United States maintained many bases in Greenland; more recently, it has cut that back to one, a remote missile tracking station.
Denmark’s statement on Wednesday was careful to point out that the increased military presence and activity has the full backing of Greenland’s semiautonomous government, and it included a vote of support from Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s foreign minister. Ms. Motzfeldt was in Washington on Wednesday with a delegation of Danish and Greenland officials for talks about the future of the island.
A Danish defense analyst, Peter Viggo Jakobsen, said Denmark’s military moves sent a dual message.
“From the Danish side, the point is to show responsiveness,” he said, adding that it demonstrates Denmark is taking Mr. Trump’s concerns “very seriously.”
But Mr. Jakobsen stressed that the signal cuts both ways. The expanded presence of NATO forces means that Greenland is no longer protected by Danish troops alone.
“What this also means, of course,” he said, “is that if the Americans were ever to try to take Greenland, they wouldn’t just be facing Danish soldiers, but allied ones as well.”
That, he argued, could change the political calculations. The more NATO allies present, he said, the more awkward it would be for the United States to use force in Greenland.
Jeffrey Gettleman is an international correspondent based in London covering global events. He has worked for The Times for more than 20 years.
The post Denmark Reinforces Its Military Presence in Greenland appeared first on New York Times.
