The political parties behind the Danish Defence Agreement have settled on a new accord regarding security in the Arctic and North Atlantic region, the Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 27 January 2025.
This first agreement contains initiatives with financial commitments of a value of approximately DKK 14.6 billion (EUR 1.96 billion) and the parties have agreed on the need for a second agreement on this issue to be concluded in the first half of 2025, the MoD added.
The agreement to bolster the High North no doubt responds to the effects of global warning on the region, which could become easier to navigate and exploit and thus become the subject of geopolitical competition. However, the Danish move also comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s attempts to strong-arm Denmark – a NATO ally – into allowing the United States to acquire Greenland: a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark (which also includes metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands).
The Danish Defence Agreement came into being on 28 June 2023, when the Danish government (consisting of the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Moderates), together with the Green Left, the Denmark Democrats, the Liberal Alliance, the Conservative Party, the Social Liberal Party, the Danish People’s Party and the New Right, agreed on the overall framework for Danish defence and security from 2024 through to 2033.
The parties behind the new agreement announced on 27 January aim to improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the Arctic and North Atlantic. At the same time, supporting NATO efforts in the High North is recognised as essential to strengthening regional security and defence overall.
Among other measures, the new agreement includes the following initiatives:
- three new Arctic naval vessels to ensure that tasks around Greenland can be carried out more effectively and with greater flexibility. The ships will be able to carry other capabilities with them such as helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs);
- two long-range UAVs with the ability to conduct surveillance over large areas at great distances and provide detailed surveillance;
- satellite capacity and ground-based sensors to strengthen situational awareness and intelligence by identifying and surveying activities in areas such as the Arctic and North Atlantic;
- increased access and availability for young Greenlanders to “acquire important skills allowing them to take responsibility for preparedness”.
“We must face the fact that there are serious challenges regarding security and defence in the Arctic and North Atlantic. For this reason, we must strengthen our presence in the region. That is the objective of this agreement, which paves the way for further initiatives already this year,” stated Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s minister of statehood and foreign affairs, added, “Greenland is facing a changing security landscape. I am pleased with the steps we are taking towards increased security in and around Greenland with this partial defence agreement. Naalakkersuisut [Greenland’s government] is looking forward to continuing the dialogue with the government of Denmark.”
Ensuring that investments through the agreement can provide support for local workplaces and businesses in the Faroe Islands and Greenland will be a focal point throughout its implementation. The parties agreed that it is vital for the initiatives to have a positive effect in the Faroes Islands and Greenland to the greatest possible extent, thereby strengthening the resilience of civil society there.
“This implies among other things that the capacities provided for by the agreement must strengthen the ability of the Danish Defence to support the police, the emergency management agency and other civil agencies in their tasks,” the Danish MoD stated.
Furthermore, the parties agreed to strengthen co-operation on intelligence and research and to upgrade the facilities of the Joint Arctic Command in Nuuk, the mission of which is to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark in the Arctic. This will allow the Danish armed forces to operate under improved security conditions and to work on an increasing number of tasks related to surveillance, maintaining sovereignty, support for Allies, as well as search and rescue in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
Trump returned to his first-term ambition to acquire Greenland – along with the Panama Canal and Canada – in a 7 January 2025 new conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. When asked at the time, he disturbingly refused to rule out using military force to pursue those ambitions.
While the Danish response to this was just as affronted as the first time round, this time the Danes are taking the issue much more seriously.
In mid-January the newly installed President Trump had a 45-minute phone conversation with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that was reported by a source who witnessed it as “horrendous”. The source told the Financial Times that Trump became aggressive when he was told that Greenland was not for sale and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Denmark if it refused to give Greenland up.
A Danish former official added that in the “very tough conversation” Trump “threatened specific measures against Denmark such as targeted tariffs”.
Since then there has been no let-up in this stance. In a 25 January Q&A session with reporters, Trump said of Greenland, “I think we’re going to have it. … I don’t know really what claim Denmark has to it but it would be a very unfriendly act if they didn’t allow that to happen because I’’s for protection of the free world. It’s not for us; it’s for the free world.”
