Denmark, Greenland and US sign historic security agreement

Denmark, Greenland and the United States have signed what Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called a historic security agreement, DR reports. The agreement was signed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York after intense negotiations.

“It is one of those days when you feel that your political work makes a small difference,” Rasmussen told DR’s US correspondent, Kim Bildsøe Lassen.

Rasmussen said the agreement became possible because the United States changed course during what he described as a very intense process. He said the negotiations would not have succeeded if US President Donald Trump’s more maximalist statements on Truth Social had been translated directly into policy.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was happy, proud and relieved after the agreement was signed.

“It has been difficult. Greenland has been under enormous pressure. People have been afraid,” Frederiksen said.

She said the agreement was important because Denmark and Greenland are part of NATO in an increasingly uncertain world and depend on continued cooperation between the United States and Europe.

Rasmussen said the agreement would secure the kingdom’s relationship with the United States for the future and reinforce US engagement in NATO. He also said it recognised Greenland as part of NATO and affirmed the Greenlandic people’s right to independence.

The White House described the signing on Instagram as a “historic day” for the United States and national security. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called the agreement “fantastic”, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed it and said the challenges facing the region would be met jointly.