Denmark and other NATO members have tried to assure US President Donald Trump that the alliance can strengthen its military presence in Greenland.
"I have no doubt that we can do this quite quickly," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday, hoping for early 2026.
“Not getting a foothold”
The signal is that countries are ready to take greater responsibility for security in the Arctic.
"It's about strengthening surveillance capabilities, keeping an eye on the airspace and ships in the area, and ensuring that Russia or China do not gain a foothold in Greenland," says Eva Hagström Frisell at the Swedish Defence Research Institute FOI.
Since the end of last year, Sweden has been part of the so-called JFC Norfolk area of operations within NATO, which includes the Arctic, and has capabilities that could be used, she says.
"If it's about air surveillance, we have fighter jets," she says.
Fighter aircraft and submarines
As early as February-March, Sweden will have an F-7 fighter unit in Iceland within the framework of JFC Norfolk. Sweden also has advanced radar reconnaissance aircraft, the so-called special flight squadron has previously been based in Iceland.
Eva Hagström Frisell also does not rule out that Swedish submarines could be used to monitor the shipping lanes in the area.
"On the ground, we have units in northern Sweden that can operate in an Arctic environment. But then I think it's more about exercises," she says.
Taunted elite soldiers
Denmark has also been ramping up its efforts in Greenland. Last year, multi-billion-dollar investments were announced for five new ice-going ships, long-range drones, ground-based sensors, satellite surveillance and a maritime surveillance aircraft.
"Some things are being done, but it has come very late. And this is something that the US has been demanding for a long time," says Hagström Frisell.
Trump has mocked the Danish sled patrols in Greenland, a group of elite soldiers who patrol a vast, inhospitable landmass. Eva Hagström Frisell says one of their missions is to investigate whether any external actors have landed or been in Greenland.
They fulfill a function in that they show that they have control over the territory, even if it cannot defend itself from a full-scale attack, she says.
For the United States, Greenland is being identified as important for the country's new missile defense, the so-called Gold Dome. This could involve both radar stations and anti-aircraft missiles on the island.
