Denmark, Greenland and US set to sign pivotal Greenland deal

Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign an agreement on Greenland on Tuesday, in what former Danish ambassador to the US Friis Arne Petersen describes as one of the most important days for Danish diplomacy in recent history, DR reports.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenland’s head of government Jens-Frederik Nielsen and US President Donald Trump are expected to sign the agreement at the United Nations building in New York at 4.30pm Danish time.

The precise contents of the agreement have not been disclosed. Frederiksen said the negotiations had involved months of work by officials behind the scenes, following a visit to Washington by Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt, who was then Greenland’s minister for foreign affairs.

“It is rare to have the opportunity to thank those who work a little in the shadows,” Frederiksen told reporters in New York on Monday evening.

Petersen said the agreement could be decisive for Denmark, Greenland and security in the Arctic.

“It is among the very most important days in the history of Danish diplomacy in recent times. Simply because it is so far-reaching. It is about securing sovereignty over 98 percent of the Danish kingdom for all time,” he said.

He also highlighted the way the agreement had been negotiated through traditional diplomacy rather than public statements and speeches.

“What Greenland and Denmark have managed is to bring it into a classic and proper diplomatic process, where we have been allowed to present our views and, hopefully, have them taken into account,” Petersen said.

He said he was particularly interested in the rights and permissions that the US would receive, whether the text contained ambiguities and whether the balance of the agreement would allow the Danish Realm, especially Greenlanders, to be proud of and live with the result.

“That is probably what concerns me the most,” Petersen said.

Frederiksen was asked on Monday whether she was certain the agreement would be signed. “Can one guarantee anything in this world?” she replied, before adding that she believed there would be three signatures on the document.

However, Petersen warned that the agreement could still fail to materialise or might not be implemented word for word. He described Trump as one of the world’s most unpredictable statesmen and said that even after a signature, people should remain realistic because Trump had made many agreements before.

Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, a senior researcher in US foreign policy at the Danish Institute for International Studies, also said that much remained at stake until the document was signed.

He noted that the Danish and American descriptions of the agreement had differed. Frederiksen has said it recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.

Trump has said that the US will “work together with the people of Greenland”, while also saying the agreement has no expiry date and gives the US “permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland”.

According to Søndergaard, it is unclear which of the two descriptions appears in the written agreement, which could create tensions if the politicians are questioned about the differences at a press conference.

Petersen said Denmark and Greenland wanted the signing ceremony to be short and efficient, to reduce the risk of Trump making remarks that could be hurtful.