The US plans to re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and set up another on the east coast, now used by the Danish dog sled patrol, under a deal to be signed with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter. The three people familiar with the matter are speaking in anonymity.
Those two sites are, Narsarsuaq, whose population has dwindled to a few dozen people since the US closed its Bluie West One military base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit, said two of the people. Denmark, Greenland, and the United States are expected to sign their new agreement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday. The details of the agreement have not been finalized yet or made public. Both the White House and the government of Greenland have not made a comment on the matter immediately. Denmark says the agreement puts Arctic security under the watch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military defense alliance, rather than leaving it solely to the US and Denmark.
The deal follows months of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has long said he wants the US to control Greenland and has at times refused to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Under the defence agreement dating back to 1951, the US already had a de facto unlimited military access. Trump’s statements also suggest that Washington will have sort of formal control over which countries can invest in the sensitive areas of Greenland and which ones can have their military presence in the area as well. The people of Greenland continue to protest against this control by the US by the polls showing an overwhelming number of Greenlanders rejecting this agreement. The sign, “Greenland is not for sale” could be seen across Greenland. The government of Greenland has also refused to hand over any mineral rights of the land to the US.
Trump’s threats, which peaked in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations with Washington aimed at defusing the pressure. During the Cold War, the US maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, with some 150 US military personnel.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark and occupies a strategically important position between North America and Europe. Its location also makes it important for monitoring activity in the Arctic and the North Atlantic.
Sources : Reuters | NDTV | The Times Of India
