The United States plans to re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and establish another military site on the island’s east coast under a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The agreement is expected to be signed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday.
The proposed sites are Narsarsuaq, where the US operated the Bluie West One military base until it was closed in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, an eastern military outpost currently used by Denmark’s Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a special forces unit, two of the sources said.
The population of Narsarsuaq has since declined to a few dozen people. The details of the agreement have not been made public, while the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some provisions may not be finalised until the agreement is signed.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the specific details but reiterated an earlier statement that Tuesday’s agreement would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”
Denmark has said the agreement will place Arctic security under the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), rather than leaving responsibility solely with the US and Denmark.
The deal follows months of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire for the US to control Greenland and at times declined to rule out using military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Greenlanders have overwhelmingly rejected the idea, according to polling cited by Reuters. Trump’s threats, which intensified in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and led Denmark and Greenland to negotiate with Washington in an effort to ease tensions.
During the Cold War, the US maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with about 150 US military personnel.