United States President Donald Trump announced Friday that Washington has secured "permanent control" over Greenland's security under a new deal with Denmark and Greenland. Greenland is the world's largest continental island in the Arctic Ocean and is a semi-autonomous region within the Kingdom of Denmark. So, has Denmark effectively handed over the world's largest island to Washington?
According to Denmark and Greenland, the deal with the US does not mean that Copenhagen has ceded sovereignty over its territory. Both governments insist Greenland remains part of the Danish Kingdom and that the agreement does not transfer sovereignty to the US. What America is getting, however, appears to be considerable. Under the agreement, the US will be able to build up a much larger military presence on Greenland. Trump says the arrangement has no end date and gives Washington the ability to do whatever is necessary to defend both Greenland and the United States.
He has called it an "Infinite Life" agreement. Trump stated: "I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing all of our many US interests." The US will also have a say over who else gets access to the strategically important Arctic island.
According to the 80-year-old Republican president, an American adversary will not be allowed to establish a military base or presence there. Sensitive investments by those countries would also require written US approval. That is a significant amount of authority, but it is not the same thing as owning Greenland. Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It controls most of its domestic affairs, while Copenhagen retains responsibility in areas including defence and parts of foreign policy. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the arrangement is not a surrender, adding that the new agreement recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Danish Kingdom as well as Greenlanders' right to decide their own future.