Trump signs Arctic security agreement with Denmark and Greenland

US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen signed an agreement in New York regarding the US maintaining security controls in Greenland.

The leaders, who were in New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly meetings, officially recorded the agreement that Trump had previously announced. Speaking at the ceremony, Trump stated that the agreement was "very important" for the US, Denmark, and Greenland.

Thanking Frederiksen and Nielsen, Trump said, "We are going to have a great and strong relationship, and we look forward to it. We will work in very close cooperation with each other; it is truly a great honor for me to be here."

Noting that the issue of Greenland had been brought up by many US presidents before, Trump argued that he was the one who took the concrete step. The US President assessed that "this agreement is a tremendous development for Europe and the United States, for Denmark and Greenland."

EMPHASIS ON NATO AND THE ARCTIC

Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen drew attention to the long-standing cooperation between the US and Denmark. Stating that the Kingdom of Denmark is "a friend and reliable ally that always keeps its word" to the US, Frederiksen described the signed text as a "turning point" in cooperation.

Reminding that an agreement regarding the defense of Greenland was signed 75 years ago, Frederiksen said the new arrangement is important for NATO and Europe, as well as for the US, Denmark, and Greenland. She stated that with the agreement, "no hostile element" would be allowed to approach Greenland.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Nielsen stated that with the agreement, the island's security controls have been comprehensively updated and security cooperation with the US has been permanently strengthened. Nielsen said that Greenland played an important role in terms of US security from World War II to the Cold War era.

Emphasizing that it is of vital importance for NATO to remain strong in the Arctic region, Nielsen said, "We are a loyal friend of the US and a part of the Western alliance; we were, and we will remain so."

In a post on his social media account on September 18, Trump had announced that an agreement had been reached with Denmark regarding "permanent security control" in Greenland. Greenland, an autonomous territory with a population of approximately 56,000 belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, had recently become one of the topics of tension on the Washington-Copenhagen-Brussels line due to Trump's statements on control.