RismadarVoice Reporters
September 19, 2026
Denmark and Greenland have backed a proposed security agreement with the United States that would strengthen Washington’s security role in Greenland, while insisting that Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination will remain intact.
The three governments are expected to sign the agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.
US President Donald Trump has described the arrangement in broader terms, saying it would give Washington “permanent control” over Greenland’s security and prevent US adversaries from establishing military bases or making sensitive investments in the strategically important Arctic territory.
Denmark, however, has framed the agreement differently, describing it as a security arrangement rather than a transfer of sovereignty or territorial control.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the agreement would strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic while recognising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.
TERMS REMAIN UNCLEAR
The full text of the proposed agreement has not yet been made public, meaning the precise scope of Washington’s authority, how any expanded US security role would operate and what legal limits would apply remain unclear.
Trump’s description of “permanent control” also differs in emphasis from statements by Danish and Greenlandic officials, who have stressed continued sovereignty and self-determination.
Until the final agreement is published and formally concluded, claims about the extent of US control should therefore be treated as descriptions by the respective governments rather than a settled account of the pact’s legal effect.
US SEEKS STRONGER ARCTIC SECURITY ROLE
Trump has repeatedly argued that Greenland is strategically important to US national security amid growing geopolitical competition in the Arctic.
Under the proposed agreement, Washington is expected to strengthen its ability to protect Greenland and wider Western security interests, including measures aimed at preventing Russia and China from establishing sensitive military or strategic footholds on the island.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has welcomed the emerging agreement, saying it would strengthen the territory’s security.
SOVEREIGNTY REMAINS KEY ISSUE
The distinction between expanded US security authority and sovereignty over Greenland remains central to understanding the proposed arrangement.
Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, while the United States already maintains a military presence there under longstanding defence arrangements with Denmark.
Washington has for decades operated the Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland, and existing agreements already provide a framework for US military activities on the territory.
The proposed deal would deepen that security relationship at a time when the Arctic is becoming increasingly important to the United States, Denmark and other NATO members.
For now, Denmark and Greenland are presenting the agreement as a strengthening of Arctic security without surrendering territorial sovereignty, while Trump has emphasised what he describes as the permanent nature of Washington’s security role. The exact balance between those positions will become clearer when the final agreement and its legal terms are publicly available.
