Greenland has done its part. On Tuesday the island’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, endorsed the security and defence arrangement signed in New York on September 22 by Greenland’s premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen, his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen and Donald Trump. Sixteen members voted in favour, nobody voted against and seven abstained.
The document is built as an amendment to a defence accord dating back to 1951. In practical terms it lets the United States open new defence areas at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, upgrade the Pituffik Space Base in the far northwest and host elements of the planned “Golden Dome” missile shield. Any further sites would need approval from both Copenhagen and Nuuk.
For Greenlanders, who spent much of the past year hearing a US president muse about taking their island, the political core lies elsewhere. The text reaffirms Danish sovereignty and recognises Greenlanders as a people with a right to self-determination. It has no expiry date and would survive independence, provided a sovereign Greenland joins NATO. Investors from countries outside NATO and the EU are barred from gaining significant influence in sensitive sectors.
Foreign minister Múte B. Egede told Danish broadcaster DR he felt glad and relieved after a long road. Not everyone shared the mood. The opposition party Naleraq argued the island gets too little in return, pressing for direct US payments and more business for local firms. Siumut sat out the vote by arrangement because several members were ill or travelling, though it says it backs the deal.
The next stop is Denmark’s Folketing, which opens its debate on November 12 and is expected to vote on November 19. The pact takes effect once Washington is formally told both parliaments have approved it. No Senate ratification is needed, since the White House treats it as an executive agreement.
