Danish lawmakers welcome Denmark-Greenland-US Arctic security agreement

Danish lawmakers have welcomed the security agreement signed this week by Denmark, Greenland and the United States, describing it as a step in the right direction even as they acknowledged that trust in Washington remains badly eroded.

The deal, signed on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, is aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security. It paves the way for a larger US military presence in Greenland while keeping the territory under Danish control, easing tensions set off by President Donald Trump's repeated calls for the island to become part of the United States.

Speaking at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Lars-Christian Brask, a member of the government's Foreign Policy Committee, said the agreement represented progress. "Things have to take time to heal and I'm sure it will also take time to heal here, but we've raised the level of trust, so we have a good platform to build on," he said.

Brask highlighted several changes from earlier arrangements, including the 1951 defence agreement and updates in 1991 and 2004. Under the new terms, only NATO members, NATO partners, the United States or EU states would be able to bring in critical infrastructure, he said. He also noted that the agreement would remain in force if Greenland becomes independent, and that it holds only as long as NATO holds together — a point he described as hugely important given US interest in maintaining base capabilities on the island.

He characterised the episode as a wake-up call. "You couldn't put it on snooze and turn around. You had to react, for the interest of Greenland, for the interests of the Kingdom of Denmark," he said.

Fellow committee member Trine Pertou Mach also welcomed the deal but stressed how far it departs from the past. "The agreement of yesterday is an agreement of 2026 and not 1951," she said, adding that the most obvious change is Greenland's direct involvement. Greenlandic representatives negotiated, had a seat at the table and are signing the agreement. "It's not about Greenland, it's with Greenland," she said.

She cautioned, however, that the deal would not repair the damage done to Danish perceptions of the US. "It's only a minority of Danes now having trust in the US as an ally and partner. So it will take a very long time to rebuild. So this agreement is not going to do away with that mistrust," she said.

Mach added that the joint work between Denmark and Greenland — sharing a common cause and a common result — was important for Greenland's standing, allowing it to act on its own rather than simply as part of Denmark's efforts.

The agreement followed months of quiet negotiations among US, Greenlandic and Danish officials, who sought both to address some of Trump's security concerns about the territory and to calm fears in Denmark and Greenland of a US takeover.