US to Reopen Cold War Base in Greenland Under New Three-Way Deal
The US plans to reopen the former Bluie West One base at Narsarsuaq and establish a presence at Mestersvig, an east coast outpost used by Denmark's Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.
The United States intends to reopen a former Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and establish a military presence at an east coast outpost currently used by a Danish special forces unit, under an agreement that Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk are expected to sign on Tuesday.
The two sites are Narsarsuaq, where the US operated the Bluie West One base until the 1950s and whose population has since fallen to a few dozen residents, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit.
The agreement is due to be signed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday. Its text has not been made public, and the details are not considered final until the signing takes place.
The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the White House.
Denmark has said the arrangement places Arctic security under the watch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization rather than leaving it solely to the United States and Denmark.
The deal follows months of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants the United States to control Greenland and has at times declined to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Those threats, which peaked in January, set off a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations with Washington aimed at easing the pressure.
During the Cold War, the United States maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, staffed by roughly 150 US military personnel.