by N. Peter Kramer
President Donald Trump’s advocacy for a Greenland under his control has had effect. Denmark is allocating 2 billion euros for a reinforced Danish Army presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic region. The defence deal was signed on Monday by both Danish majority and the opposition parties, in cooperation with the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which belong to the Kingdom of Denmark but enjoy a certain autonomy.
‘We must realise that there are serious challenges around security and defence in the Arctic and the North Atlantic region’, said Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, ‘that is why we need to strengthen our presence in the region. That is the aim of the agreement, which paves the way for further initiatives this year’. The money will be used for, among other things, three new naval patrol vessels and two long-range drones to monitor large areas.
The Danish decision was taken shortly after President Trump once again set his sights on Greenland as a strategic location due to the proximity of Russia. The Danish government and the Greenland authorities were quick to offer the US specific military cooperation in the region.
