Authorities in Greenland and Denmark were hoping that talks with American negotiators on an increased U.S. presence in Greenland would lead to a somewhat calm resolution of the crisis caused by Donald Trump’s desire to annex this Danish autonomous territory. However, the reading of the New York Times dated Tuesday, May 19 did not reassure them.
Indeed, according to unidentified sources collected by the newspaper in the United States, Denmark, and Greenland, what the Americans are proposing to their counterparts is “a much larger role for the United States in the Arctic”.
The Greenlandic and Danish negotiators were counting on relying on a defense agreement signed with Washington in 1951, during the Cold War, but their American counterparts, according to the newspaper, would demand a modification of this document. This would allow “American troops in Greenland to be stationed indefinitely, even if Greenland becomes independent”.
Furthermore, the talks would have been expanded to other subjects beyond the military domain. “The United States wants an effective veto right on any major investment agreement, in order to exclude competitors such as Russia and China.”
