Royal Danish Navy frigate HDMS Triton patrols the seas around the Arctic, 2022. Source: Flickr, NATO, CC BY-NC-ND-2.0
It appears that the military fever around Greenland is approaching a crescendo, amid the disappointing absence of Chinese and Russian warships and merchant vessels in the international waters surrounding the vast icy island.
The entire world is watching with bated breath as the battle looms between the American elephant and the European flea. Over the past week, the conflicting sides have alternately bared their fangs, bristled their necks, and growled menacingly, while also were burying the hatchet for a moment, promising to find a political and diplomatic solution any moment now.
Danish soldiers, whom the Danish press likes to call the “Danish Tigers,” recently learned that they can open fire on the island’s invaders without permission from above. Almost immediately afterward, the Danes authorised the United States to deploy as many troops as they want or can to Greenland, while also building a dozen additional military bases.
To date, major European countries have failed to formulate a unified approach, with serious differences between Great Britain, Germany, and France, for which American Greenland represents the failure of the plan to create a Francophone transatlantic geopolitical “arc” linking Canadian Quebec, which is striving for independence, and continental France, which has already been expelled from a number of its former possessions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The half-dead, half-corpse Macron-like Labour government in Great Britain, which is unlikely to survive 2026, and has disarmed to its bare knees by providing massive military aid to Ukraine, also lacks a sound strategy or even working ideas for resolving the major squabble in the NATO henhouse. Hats off to President Trump and his advisers: the timing for the decisive political assault on Greenland was perfect, and the political and diplomatic moves resemble a game between a grandmaster and first-year chess students.
Most of the smaller EU countries are wisely keeping quiet, understanding that their chicken squeals are unlikely to interest the dominant animals waging a bulldog fight under the carpet, the most interesting details of which clearly escape the attention of the media and the global public. At least one thing is clear: this geopolitical storm must pass before the midterm congressional elections this year, and American territory must increase by 2 million square kilometres—no matter how this ownership is formalised politically or legally.
Europe will have to wipe the shame blush from its face and get down to its usual business—confronting Russia and providing comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the hope that the world’s policeman will no longer want to eat anyone for lunch.
Denmark Throws An Ace On The Table
On 14 January the Danish Defence Forces announced increasing their presence and continuing with exercises in Greenland in close cooperation with NATO allies, apparently excluding the U.S. military forces.
This means that from today there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland—in close cooperation with NATO allies. The purpose is to train the ability to operate under the unique Arctic conditions and to strengthen the alliance’s footprint in the Arctic for the benefit of both European and transatlantic security.
As part of the increased presence in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, the Defence Forces are deploying capacities and units in connection with exercise activities from today, which will result in an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from NATO allies, in the coming time.
Military Exercises All Year Round?
The exercise activities in 2026 could include guarding installations critical to society, assistance to authorities in Greenland including the police, receiving allied troops, deploying fighter aircraft in and around Greenland and naval task solving.
Arctic Command will continuously inform the citizens of Greenland about the activities and be in close dialogue with relevant Greenland authorities and key actors.
A Royal Danish Navy crew member on board the HDMS Triton looks through their binoculars. Source: Flickr, NATO, CC BY-NC-ND-2.0
Background To The Initiatives
In the summer of 2025, the Danish Armed Forces strengthened its presence and exercise activity in and around Greenland with a number of initiatives and capabilities, including contributions from allies such as Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. The initiatives involved the deployment of capabilities at sea, on land and in the air, as well as exercises related to the protection of Greenland’s critical infrastructure.
The Greenland Government and the Ministry of Defence continue to cooperate closely on the initiatives to ensure local involvement and insight into local conditions.
Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen stated: “Security in the Arctic is of crucial importance to the Kingdom and our Arctic allies, and it is therefore important that we, in close cooperation with allies, further strengthen our ability to operate in the region. We have done this in 2025, and as a natural extension of the effort, we will continue and expand the cooperation in 2026. The Danish Defence, together with a number of Arctic and European allies, will in the coming weeks explore how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be carried out in concrete terms.”
Danish “Tigers” Heading For Greenland By Plane
A Danish Hercules military plane took off from Karup Airport on Wednesday evening at 6 pm, immediately after Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen had said that soldiers were on their way to Greenland.
The plane has currently taken a route that matches other departures to Greenland.
Therefore, it is likely that the plane that took off from Karup is heading for Greenland, just as the Minister of Defence said at his press conference.
One thing is that it was not clear whether this is a NATO operation or a Danish operation with NATO allies.
“It may turn out to be not entirely unimportant,” he says.
In addition, we did not learn which—or how many—NATO countries will be involved in the increased presence.
No Concrete Numbers Or Locations
Defence Chief Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard cannot say how many more troops will be sent to Greenland—or where they will be sent in Greenland.
However, he says that in some cases you will not even notice it because the presence will take place on water.
When asked how many soldiers will be in Greenland and where they will be, the Chief of Defence replied that it will change during the year. “It will fluctuate how many we are and where we are during the year.”
Operation Arctic Endurance
Here the Minister of Defence said that this is a long-term exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance, which is planned in close cooperation with Greenland and an unknown number of NATO countries.
“We have been in continuous dialogue with Greenland about the plan for 2026. We have been planning for a long time to bring forward activities that will allow us to be more present. We will have a more permanent presence,” said Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen.
No Actual Russian Threat For Denmark’s Arctic
Ulrik Pram Gad, who researches the Danish Realm, global security and worldview, says that the only military interest for the Russians in Greenland is Pittufik Space Base—not the rest of the country.
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen from the Centre for Arctic Security Studies at the Danish Defence Academy says similarly, that as a Greenlander you have no reason to be afraid. This is because the Russian armament in the Arctic is taking place near Norway and Alaska.
And Then There Are The Threats From The U.S.
Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard currently conducts research in American foreign history for the Danish Institute for International Studies.
He describes how there are three groups that influence American Greenland policy: money men with an interest in raw materials; defence experts with an interest in the threat from Russia; the political MAGA movement, which wants to expand American territory through the sacred doctrine called “manifest destiny”.
Both Denmark and Greenland have tried to get a meeting with the U.S. about raw materials and defence, but it has not taken place.
What Does All This Mean?
The vast majority of journalists’ questions at the press-conference were about whether the new measures are a signal to the U.S.
Here they wanted to know whether it is to deter the U.S. from taking over Greenland, or whether the purpose is to send a signal that Greenland, Denmark and NATO can already defend themselves today.
“The Danish position is clear: We have a kingdom, and we are vigilant about that. It is now the case that NATO’s framework is to show solidarity and create security. That is my message to the American government,” said Troels Lund Poulsen.
Therefore, the Minister of Defence expects that more countries will participate in the exercises than last year, when the Scandinavian countries participated together with, among others, France and Germany.
“What we are announcing now is that we are unfolding the agreement we made in the autumn,” said the Minister of Defence.
Here he is referring to Partial Agreement 2, which was concluded between the Government of Greenland and Denmark on October 10 last year.
“We assess that there is a need for more presence, and that there is a need for NATO to engage in the issue of the Arctic.”
Other Countries Are Also Involved
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X that Swedish officers are arriving in Greenland as part of a multinational allied group to help prepare upcoming phases of Denmark’s Operation Arctic Endurance exercise, following a request from Copenhagen.
A European diplomat said that troops from the Netherlands, Canada and Germany were also taking part. The diplomat and another official with first-hand knowledge said France was also involved. Defence ministries in other countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
So far, the deployment remains intergovernmental and has not been formally approved by NATO, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“The goal is to show that Denmark and key allies can increase their presence in the Arctic region,” said a third person briefed on the plans, demonstrating their “ability to operate under the unique Arctic conditions and thereby strengthen the alliance’s footprint in the Arctic, benefiting both European and transatlantic security.”
Source:
Independent Expert