A historic agreement that covers the entire kingdom on land, at sea and in the air. This is how the Danish Minister of Defence, Troels Lund Poulsen, describes the new defence agreement, Arctic Package 2, which landed on Friday. It has been done in close cooperation with the Government of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The defence agreement has a budget of 27.4 billion kroner, which Denmark will invest in the defence of the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The agreement includes Arctic ships, drones, a North Atlantic submarine cable between Greenland and Denmark and a new headquarters for the Arctic Command in Nuuk.
On Friday, Greenland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, presented the defence agreement at a press conference in Nuuk, while Troels Lund Poulsen subsequently presented the agreement at a press conference in Copenhagen.
Troels Lund Poulsen, Trump has previously criticised Denmark for not investing enough in the defence of Greenland. Now you are going to increase the military presence. How much should these initiatives be seen in light of that criticism?
“We were on the way to presenting the first Arctic agreement much earlier than the statements that came from Trump. So, we have all had the ambition that we would like to have a greater presence both in relation to surveillance and sovereignty enforcement, he says and continues:
“But then I also recognise that Denmark must do more in relation to having a greater military presence, not least in relation to the Arctic and the North Atlantic. It is also an ambition that we share with NATO, and the USA is also part of NATO.”
Back in January, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated, he criticised Denmark for not doing enough to defend Greenland.
A criticism that Vice President J.D. Vance repeated during his visit to Pituffik Space Base in March, where he said that Denmark had failed Greenland.
Closest Ally
Nevertheless, Denmark has good cooperation with the United States—also when it comes to the defence of Greenland. Troels Lund Poulsen emphasises this.
“The United States is still Denmark’s closest ally,” he says.
At the same time, Denmark and the United States also cooperate on the defence of the Arctic, Troels Lund Poulsen continues.
“And I am happy about that, because we cannot take on the task in relation to the Arctic and the North Atlantic alone. We will have to do that together, and NATO is the framework for that.”
Exercises In All Parts Of The Country
Although the new agreement involves increased military presence in Greenland, it is increasing to ensure that Greenland continues to remain a low-voltage area, says Troels Lund Poulsen at the press conference.
For many years, it has been important for the changing governments of Greenland to ensure low voltage.
Parts of the Greenlandic population express uncertainty about the increased military presence in recent times, and also experience that there is not enough communication. How much do you think about the local population in this?
“We think about the local population in almost all areas. The Chief of Defence in Denmark has been very active in the dialogue with the Greenlandic government. I have also been in relation to the exercises that have taken place, in order to also take into account some of the many wishes that have been made by Greenland,” says Troels Lund Poulsen, and continues:.
“Can we get better at it? We most likely can, and we must constantly strive for that. But it means a lot to me that we can conduct training activities in all parts of Greenland, but of course also with respect for the Greenlandic wishes.”
Source: KNR (in Danish)
Further reading:
- New Greenlandic subsea cable worth $1 USD million added to Denmark’s Arctic defence deal / Arctic Today
- Denmark to boost Arctic defence by $1 USD.26bn, plans to buy 16 new F-35s / Aljazeera