When Mette Frederiksen met Donald Trump in London in 2019, she promised a number of things that the USA and NATO had requested: more radar stations and purchases of drones for surveillance that can warn against Russian robots targeting the USA.
Five years later, it is clear that Denmark has not delivered on any point. Therefore, Trump has "a point when he uses the USA's national security as an argument for his otherwise bizarre statements about taking over Greenland", writes the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen.
Large gaps
Currently, Denmark does not have a particularly large military presence on Greenland, and there are large gaps, notes Kristian Søby Kristensen, senior researcher at the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen.
It is possible to fly undetected over Greenland in a north-south direction, and it is possible for submarines to operate undetected along the coast.
Denmark lacks oversight of both the airspace and under the sea surface, says Kristian Søby Kristensen.
He believes that this is due to a general underfunding of the Danish defense over a long period, not just on Greenland, and it was like that until 2023. Negotiations are currently underway in the Folketing about a buildup in the Arctic.
One can now say that Denmark should have done more earlier, but the task of defending Greenland is enormous. Even if Denmark had used its entire defense budget to defend Greenland, the US could still have said: You're not doing it well enough, says Søby Kristensen.
Could have called
Several experts and high-ranking politicians have given Trump right in that Europe has not invested enough in defense. But that Trump's only concern is that Denmark has not delivered when he says he wants to take over Greenland is nonsense, believes defense analyst Jacob Kaarsbo.
Since the Second World War, agreements between Denmark and the USA have clarified that the USA is to defend and Denmark is to monitor Greenland, which was later formalized in NATO. According to the agreement, the USA already has the right to what they want to defend Greenland.
He believes it is dangerous to rationalize the president's statements and that one should not only take him seriously, but also literally.
It's about him, just as he himself says, wanting to expand the USA's territory.
Cornelia Mikaelsson / TT
Cecilia Klintö/TT
Facts: Danish defense on Greenland
TT
The Arctic Command, headquartered in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, is to lead the defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, but also has a number of other tasks, such as fisheries inspection, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring.
On land, the Sirius Patrol operates, six dog sleds with two armed soldiers per dog sled.
Around Greenland, four larger patrol vessels of the Thetis class are used, which can have a helicopter on board. They are outdated and so poorly equipped that they do not meet NATO's definition of warships.
In addition, three smaller patrol vessels are used.
The airspace is monitored by a reconnaissance aircraft of the type Challenger CL-604, which is stationed at the airbase in Kangerlussuaq.
On Greenland, the Danish defense forces operate an Arctic basic training.
Smaller radar installations are located at the civilian and military airports in Nuuk, Thule, and Kangerlussuaq.
Source: The Defense and Kristian Søby Kristensen, University of Copenhagen
