Greenland’s parliament has approved a landmark security deal with Denmark and the United States, a year after Donald Trump refused to rule out invading the island.
Lawmakers meeting in Ilulissat voted 16-0 in favour on Tuesday, with seven abstaining. The agreement, signed by Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, is designed to strengthen security across the Arctic and North Atlantic.
What it means
The deal paves the way for more US bases on the world’s largest island and lets Washington “modernise and expand” its remote Pituffik Space Base in the north-west. Crucially, it keeps Greenland under Danish control, and would still apply if the island of 57,000 people ever votes for independence.
It takes the heat out of Trump’s repeated demands that Greenland become part of the United States, which polls showed the majority of Greenlanders flatly rejected.
‘A difficult road’
One Greenlandic politician told the chamber the road to this point had been “a difficult one for us as a people”, adding: “This is about all of us. The Greenland we love. About our security.”
Danish lawmakers will debate the pact later this month. No approval is needed from the US Senate. Earlier this year Denmark’s parliament separately voted 94-11 to allow US bases on Danish soil, with Copenhagen reserving the right to tear up that agreement if America ever tries to annex Greenland.
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