UNITED NATIONS, United States – Denmark defended a new security agreement with Greenland and the United States at the United Nations, presenting the pact as a framework that strengthens Arctic and North Atlantic defense while expanding the scope of U.S. military activity in Greenland.
Danish Ambassador to the United Nations Christina Markus Lassen told the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 28 that the agreement strengthens the defense of Greenland, the NATO area and the American continent.
Lassen also described the agreement as beneficial to Greenland, Denmark, the United States, NATO, Europe and international peace and security. That assessment is the Danish government’s position rather than an independently established conclusion.
The agreement itself was signed six days earlier in New York by Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and U.S. President Donald Trump. It amends and supplements the existing 1951 U.S.-Denmark defense agreement covering Greenland.
A broader U.S. military framework
The agreement does more than reaffirm existing defense cooperation.
It permits the United States to modernize and expand activities at Pituffik Space Base and establishes a framework for an additional Defense Area at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, subject to technical arrangements agreed by the parties. It also allows the possibility of additional U.S. Defense Areas and strengthened military facilities in Greenland through the agreement’s consultation process.
The pact defines a Defense Area as an area in Greenland where the United States establishes or operates a military base consistent with the existing defense arrangements.
It therefore creates a mechanism for expanding the U.S. military footprint without transferring ownership of Greenland to the United States.
The agreement also supports a stronger NATO role in the Arctic, including planning, military presence, exercises and joint intelligence gathering.
Expanded access for U.S. forces
The agreement gives U.S. forces broad access rights connected with the Defense Areas.
U.S. public vessels, aircraft, armed forces and vehicles are to have access and movement between Defense Areas through Greenland, including by land, air and sea. U.S. aircraft may also fly over and land in Greenland, including its territorial waters, while U.S. public vessels receive specified access to those waters.
The provisions are subject to the agreement and its consultation mechanisms, and the text requires that these rights be exercised while respecting Greenlandic society and traditional activities, including hunting and fishing.
The agreement also commits the parties to cooperate against espionage in Greenland and establishes restrictions on the establishment of military installations or a persistent military presence by states outside NATO unless the parties agree otherwise.
Sovereignty remains with Denmark
The expansion of U.S. military access does not amount to a transfer of Greenlandic territory to the United States.
The agreement expressly reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and recognizes the people of Greenland as having a right to self-determination under international law. Greenland’s government has also described the agreement as recognizing Greenland’s status and right to self-determination.
The pact therefore establishes a deeper U.S. defense role while leaving Greenland’s constitutional status unchanged by the agreement itself.
The agreement also does not decide whether Greenland will eventually become independent.
The independence provision
One of the agreement’s more consequential provisions addresses a possible future in which Greenland exercises its right to self-determination and becomes independent.
If that happens, Denmark and Greenland are to ensure that the new Greenlandic state agrees to remain in NATO, including by applying for NATO membership if necessary. The independent state would also assume the rights and obligations assigned to Denmark under the agreement and the broader defense arrangements.
This does not mean Greenland has agreed to become independent, nor does it determine Greenland’s constitutional future.
Instead, the provision establishes what the parties agree should happen to the defense framework if independence occurs.
An agreement without an end date
The pact also differs from a temporary security arrangement.
Its text states that the agreement has no end date and can only be amended by mutual consent under the procedures of the underlying 1951 defense agreement. It will nevertheless not enter into force immediately upon signature: the text requires completion of the necessary parliamentary procedures by Denmark together with Greenland, followed by diplomatic notification to the United States.
That gives the agreement a potentially long-term role in shaping the military relationship among the three parties.
A shift after years of Greenland tensions
The agreement follows years of tension surrounding Trump’s stated interest in acquiring Greenland.
The new arrangement does not resolve the broader question of U.S. interest in Greenland by transferring sovereignty. Instead, it creates a formal defense framework that expands U.S. military access while keeping Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark under the present constitutional arrangement.
Danish officials have presented the agreement as a way to strengthen Arctic and North Atlantic security through closer cooperation with the United States and NATO.
The pact itself cites increased military activity and strategic interest by adversaries in the Arctic and identifies a shared interest in allowing U.S. military access needed to defend Greenland, the North Atlantic Treaty area and the American continent.
What the agreement changes
The significance of the agreement lies less in the diplomatic language surrounding its signing than in the practical framework established by its text.
It provides for modernization and expansion at Pituffik, an additional Defense Area at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, possible additional U.S. Defense Areas, expanded military access and stronger NATO engagement in the Arctic.
At the same time, it explicitly preserves Danish sovereignty, recognizes Greenlandic self-determination and establishes a framework intended to continue even if Greenland eventually becomes independent.
Denmark’s presentation at the United Nations therefore reflects a broader diplomatic message: Copenhagen is portraying the new arrangement as a way to strengthen Arctic security while maintaining the constitutional and sovereignty principles surrounding Greenland.
The agreement’s practical effect will depend on its entry into force, subsequent parliamentary procedures and the implementation decisions that the three parties make under the framework.
Reporting Credit: Government of Denmark / Prime Minister’s Office; Government of Greenland; White House; United Nations; the signed U.S.-Denmark-Greenland security agreement; and relevant NATO defense documentation.
