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JAN
20 25
For the first time in its efforts in the years immediately after the Second World War, the United States targeted an annexation of Greenland in 2019. In May 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a speech before a meeting of the Arctic Council in Rovaniemi, northern Finland, that the Arctic had become the "arena" for global power and competition struggles: "We are entering a new era of strategic activities in the Arctic."[ 1] In August 2019, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland. The advance triggered incredulous, partly horrified reactions in Denmark in general and in Greenland itself. "I hope this is a joke," confessed the chairman of the foreign policy committee in the Danish parliament, Martin Lidegaard - it is "a terrible and grotesque thought". 2] "Greenland is not for sale," said Greenland Prime Minister Kim Kielsen. Accordingly, Trump's plans led to nothing. The head of the Center for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Henrik O. Breitenbauch, was quoted at the time with the statement that there is no trade with people and countries. In addition, the interest in Greenland's population is probably rather limited in becoming a kind of "Puerto Rico with snow". 3]
On 22. In December 2024, Trump again announced that he wanted to incorporate Greenland into the United States.[ 4] On the 7th On 1 January 2025, he expressly confirmed that he would not exclude economic or military coercive measures in order to achieve this. 5] As in 2019, even dismayed reactions and open rejection can be heard in Denmark as well as in Greenland. Referring to the historical racial discrimination of the indigenous people of Alaska, the Inuit, for example, the deputy in the Greenland parliament Pipaluk Lynge said: "We know how they treat the Inuit in Alaska." Addressed to the US, Lynge added: "Do that 'great' before you try to invade us." 6] The first attempts by the Danish government to dampen the demands with concessions to the Trump administration - for example with the promise to expand an airport in Greenland for US F-35 fighter jets - have failed. In a telephone call with Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen the week before last week, Trump not only insisted on annexing Greenland into the USA, it is reported that he had also threatened concrete coercive measures, such as tariffs.[ 7] "We will get Greenland," Trump confirmed at the weekend; if Denmark is not willing to give up its territory, this is "a very unfriendly act". 8]
Trump insists on the demand, although the United States already has considerable military leeway in Greenland and Denmark has already offered them its expansion. Washington and Copenhagen have maintained a military agreement concerning Greenland since 1951, which allows the US armed forces, among other things, to use a military base located far northwest of the island. It is still known as Thule Air Base, but has been officially called Pituffik Space Base for several years. In addition to a space surveillance station, there are also radar and early warning systems. These were already used in the Cold War to track down possible approaching Soviet bombers and missiles; the route via Greenland is the shortest from Russia to the USA due to the curvature of the earth. Experts point out today that the facilities on the Pituffik Space Base are probably not able to discover modern Russian hypersonic missiles in time; for this, it is said, "new reconnaissance facilities ... also have to be stationed in Greenland". 9] Of course, this could be negotiated. The USA would have "largely obtained militarily in Greenland what they wanted by asking nicely," Peter Viggo Jakobsen, professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, is quoted as saying. 10]
A possible annexation of Greenland and an expansion of the US military presence on the island would significantly exacerbate military tensions in the Arctic. In addition to the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, the USA currently maintains nine military bases in Alaska. Russia, in turn, has increased its military bases in its northern parts of the country to just under a dozen. There – more precisely: on the Kola Peninsula – is the base of his northern fleet, which contains not least part of the nuclear second-strike capability of the Russian armed forces. In Russia's Arctic areas there are also large oil and, above all, natural gas deposits. Both must be able to be protected against attacks in the event of a possible war, which is why Moscow presents its military presence in the Arctic as clearly defensive. 11] However, Russia has recently expanded its maneuvers in Arctic waters and, as reported, has moved them further and further in the direction of Norway, which expands its freedom of movement, but is classified as an offensive action in the West. In addition, it also cooperates with China in the Arctic - but not militarily, but in the exchange of satellite data for communication and navigation. 12]
In the meantime, a deployment of EU armed forces in Greenland is also under discussion. Already last weekend, the chairman of the EU military committee, the Austrian General Robert Brieger, had said that it was "very sensible" to "consider the stationing of EU soldiers" in Greenland: "That would be a strong signal". 13] On Tuesday, on the occasion of a short visit by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that the Arctic had become a "new field of conflict" on which "external interference" must be complained about; "if our interests are at stake", then people will think about sending the military to Greenland as well. 14] Denmark has since begun to arm in its autonomous province at the national level. As announced on Monday, Copenhagen wants to spend 14.6 billion Danish kroner – almost two billion euros – to procure, among other things, three Arctic-fit warships and two long-range drones, with which extensive surveillance flights are possible. In addition, warfare in Arctic terrain is to be practiced more intensively than before. 15]
More on the topic: The Battle for Greenland (I) and The Battle for Greenland (II).
[1] Michael R. Pompeo: Looking North: Sharpening America's Arctic Focus. 2027-2021.state.gov 05/06/2019
[2], [3] Martin Selsoe Sorensen: 'Greenland Is Not for Sale': Trump's Talk of a Purchase Draws Derision. nytimes.com 16.08.2019.
[4] Rebecca Falconer: Trump suggests U.S. should take ownership of Greenland. axios.com 23.12.2024.
[5] Seb Starcevic: Trump refuses to rule out using military force to take Greenland and Panama Canal. politico.eu 07.01.2025.
[6] Seb Starcevic, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Jack Detsch: Donald Trump Jr.'s visit was 'staged,' says Greenland lawmaker. politico.eu 09.01.2025.
[7] Richard Milne, Gideon Rachman, James Politi: Donald Trump in fiery call with Denmark's prime minister over Greenland. ft.com 24.01.2025.
[8] Richard Milne: Donald Trump ridicules Denmark and insists US will take Greenland. ft.com 26.01.2025.
[9] Michael Paul: Greenland's Arctic Paths to Independence. SWP study 2024/S 22. Berlin, 02.10.2024.
[10] Julian Staib: Why Trump wants Greenland. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 09.01.2025.
[11] Colin Wall, Njord Wegge: The Russian Arctic Threat: Consequences of the Ukraine War. csis.org 25.01.2023.
[12] Majid Sattar, Friedrich Schmidt, Julian Staib, Jochen Stahnke: The Battle for the Arctic. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.01.2025.
[13] EU military chief for stationing soldiers in Greenland. rnd.de 26.01.2025.
[14] Théo Bourgery-Gonse: France mulls sending EU troops to Greenland. euractiv.com 28.01.2025.
[15] Billy Stockwell, James Frater, Eve Brennan: Denmark boosts Arctic defense spending by $2 billion after Trump's Greenland interest. edition.cnn.com 27.01.2025.