Denmark approves US military base agreement amid tensions over Greenland

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN (AA) – A broad majority of the Danish parliament approved an agreement on Wednesday that allows US forces to establish military bases on Danish soil, according to state news media outlet DR.

The defense agreement also enables American forces to station soldiers and store military equipment.

Critics of the agreement had previously expressed concerns about ceding Danish sovereignty to the US, and Pelle Dragsted, the political leader of the Red-Green Alliance, called the agreement "nation-harming" in a final statement before the vote.

Independent MP Theresa Scavenius, who joined members of the left-wing Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and the environmentalist Alternative party (Alternativet) in criticizing the lack of public oversight as undermining democratic legitimacy, voted against the draft agreement before it was approved by parliament.

- Greenland tensions

The defense agreement was approved amid tense US-Denmark bilateral relations, following US President Donald Trump's public remarks about buying, annexing, or otherwise gaining control of the autonomous Danish territory.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security," Trump told a joint session of Congress in March. "We're working with everybody involved to try and get it, but we need it really for international world security, and I think we're going to get it one way or the other; we're going to get it," Trump said.

The relationship turned frosty when a Wall Street Journal report cited anonymous sources, claiming that senior officials under the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard instructed agencies to gather more intelligence on Greenland's independence movement and public attitudes toward potential US resource extraction.

While the allegations are unverified, US authorities have not issued a denial.

In response, Denmark summoned the top US diplomat to Copenhagen, and Prime Minister Frederiksen stated: "Of course you can't spy on an ally."

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance had urged the island to cut ties with Denmark and instead align with the US, accusing Copenhagen of underinvesting in Greenland.

During a brief visit to the remote US Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland earlier in March, Vance claimed the US is "the only nation on Earth that will respect (Greenlanders') sovereignty and respect their security."