US, Denmark and Greenland to sign security deal on Tuesday

The United States, Denmark and Greenland will on Tuesday sign the announced US security deal for Greenland on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Denmark's government said.

US President Donald Trump said last Friday that the arrangement will give America "permanent control" over security for Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic that he has long coveted.

The office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that she, Trump and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen would sign the deal at 1430 GMT in the UN building in New York.

Frederiksen said Monday that the agreement, which has not been published, "recognises" the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, as well as the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.

"It is a good agreement from a Danish point of view," she told Danish radio DR from New York.

"And when it benefits the Nordic countries and security in the Arctic region, it also benefits NATO and Europe."

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States needs to control Greenland for strategic reasons, alarming NATO ally Denmark and sparking fierce pushback from the alliance.

According to Washington, the agreement ensures that China and Russia will not be able to establish military bases in Greenland or carry out sensitive investments there without its consent.

"This is something we have agreed on with the Americans for a very, very long time: the Arctic region, the North Atlantic, constitute an important defence zone for all members of the NATO alliance," Frederiksen said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)