Greenland deal inked at UN gathering

Denmark, Greenland, and the United States inked a deal on Tuesday that observers say is aimed at appeasing the US side, after months of threats and posturing.

The current US administration has repeatedly coveted the strategically located and mineral-rich island of Greenland, despite it belonging to fellow NATO member Denmark, and the US president has even refused to rule out using military or economic force to secure it.

Now, after lengthy negotiations, the three parties have reached an agreement that will allow the US to have a larger military presence on the island, and access to its vast energy resources.

Reuters said its sources reported Washington is planning to open two new military sites on the massive, sparsely-populated island as a result — at Narsarsuaq, a former Cold War airbase, and at Mestersvig. The new bases will complement the sole current US presence in Greenland, at the Pituffik Space Base.

US President Donald Trump, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenland's Prime ‌Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen inked the agreement at a trilateral signing ceremony at the UN General Assembly in the US city of New York on Tuesday.

Frederiksen told Danish radio DR: "It is a good agreement from a Danish point of view. And when it benefits the Nordic countries and security in the Arctic region, it also benefits NATO and Europe."

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the deal means Arctic security will now be NATO's collective responsibility.

He told national broadcaster TV2: "It will be in a form where responsibility for security in the Arctic is not only Danish or American."

Denmark added that the agreement also ensures its continued sovereignty over Greenland, and guarantees Greenland's continued right to devolved self-government.

Trump expressed a different interpretation on social media, saying the deal means the US will have "permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland".

AFP reported that the deal is aimed at ensuring the US has exclusive access to Greenland's strategic and physical resources, and that other countries are excluded.

Washington has been interested in Greenland since at least World War II, when the US signed a 1941 deal with a Danish envoy to protect the island at a time when Denmark was occupied by German forces. The US tried to follow that up in 1946 by purchasing the island, but Copenhagen declined to sell.

However, Washington and Copenhagen inked a deal in 1951 that gave the US extensive rights to locate military assets in Greenland, under the supervision of the NATO military alliance. That agreement led to the US establishing 17 military sites on Greenland and stationing more than 10,000 personnel there.

Currently, Pituffik Space Base is the only active US base on the island, and is home to around 150 US military personnel.