Denmark is proposing a NATO surveillance mission in Greenland with support from the Arctic island, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Monday after a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
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NATO will continue to collaborate with Denmark and Greenland on matters related to the security of the Arctic region, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday, following a meeting with the Minister of Defense of Denmark, Troels Lund Poulsen, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greenland, Vivian Motzfeldt, reports CNN.
“We have proposed this. The Secretary General of NATO has taken note and I think we can now hopefully establish a framework for how this goal can be achieved,” Poulsen said, according to Reuters. “This proposal is also in line with what we discussed with the Greenlandic government,” added the Danish minister.
“We discussed the importance of the Arctic – including Greenland – to our collective security and how (Denmark) is stepping up investment in key capabilities,” Rutte announced on X.
For his part, Sweden's defense minister, Pål Jonson, suggested that a NATO mission “could be a way forward” as Trump insists more needs to be done to repel China and Russia's threat to Greenland. “We are looking for the most constructive way in which we could contribute to this effort to strengthen the Alliance's presence in the far north,” he said after a meeting of Nordic ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
US President Donald Trump has stepped up his efforts to seize sovereignty over Greenland from NATO member Denmark, prompting the European Union to consider retaliatory measures. The German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” Trump's threats over the weekend to impose new tariffs on countries that oppose his plans for the Arctic island.
NATO has increased its deterrence and defense capability in the Far North and already maintains a constant presence to support peace and stability and to protect the Alliance's common interests in the region, a NATO statement said. Allies have increased their investments in key capabilities, with Denmark already acquiring air-to-air refueling drones, long-range drones, maritime patrol aircraft and F-35 fighter jets, the NATO statement said.
“Allies will continue to work together to ensure we have what it takes to meet any challenges to our security in every part of the Alliance.” NATO points out.
