Denmark is seeking to bolster its defense of Greenland, announcing a “double-digit billion amount” to be spent just hours after President-elect Trump said he thinks America should purchase the Arctic territory.
The Danish defense minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, on Monday acknowledged the timing, calling it an “irony of fate,” but noted that Denmark has not invested enough for many years, according to a report from the BBC.
“Now we are planning a stronger presence,” he said.
The plan to bolster defenses include purchasing two new inspection ships, a pair of long-range drones, and forming two extra dog sled teams. Funds will also be used to increase staffing at Arctic Command in the capital city of Nuuk and an upgrade at one of the country’s three civilian airports to handle F-35 fighter jets.
Mr. Poulsen did not give an exact figure, but the BBC reports that Danish media estimates it would cost between 12-15 billion krone, or between $1.6 billion and $2 billion.
Previously, Denmark has been slow to expand its military presence in Greenland, a country that lies in a strategic geopolitical position within the Arctic Circle, especially for America, which could likely call for greater control if Denmark is unable to protect the waters surrounding the country from encroachments by China or Russia.
Trump on Monday took to his social media platform, Truth Social, expressing his desire to purchase the self-ruling territory from Denmark.
“[F]or purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he said.
Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Bourup Egede, responded to Trump by saying that the country was not on the auction block.
“Greenland is ours,” he wrote. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale.”
“We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
Defense officials have speculated that Trump made his comments in an effort to force Denmark’s hand to increase security.
“It is likely to be sparked by the renewed Trump focus on the need for air and maritime control around Greenland and the internal developments in Greenland where some are voicing a will to look towards the US – a new international airport in Nuuk was just inaugurated,” Major Steen Kjaergaard of the Danish Defense Academy told the BBC.
“I think Trump is smart… he gets Denmark to prioritize its Arctic military capabilities by raising this voice,” he said.
Trump has reportedly called for NATO members to increase their defense spending to five percent from two percent of each nation’s gross domestic product.
“We know that we need to spend more than two percent,” the prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said during a recent summit of four NATO leaders in Finland. “But it will become very clear… once we interact with the new president, what is the figure that we will agree on within NATO.”
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Publish date : 2024-12-25 03:16:00
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