The United States has broad plans for a military buildup in the Arctic, and will invest in the Thule base in northern Greenland, the Danish newspaper Berlingske has claimed, citing a report by a US oversight authority.
According to the newspaper, the non-classified parts of the report suggest that billions of dollars will be spent in the Arctic, including Thule base, which was established in Greenland during World War II.
The base has an ageing infrastructure that the US is interested in upgrading, the US Air Force confirmed to the newspaper, without elaborating further.
The base has an ageing infrastructure that the US is interested in upgrading, the US Air Force confirmed to the newspaper, without elaborating further.
According to Berlingske, though, neither the Greenlandic authorities nor the Danish parliament are familiar with the exact upgrades the US plans to implement.
Pipaluk Lynge Rasmussen, chairman of the Foreign and Security Policy Committee in the Greenlandic parliament, and a member of the governing party IA, hasn't heard of any upgrade plans.
“We want to participate when it comes to us. It's in our country, so we want to know when something's going on,” she told the newspaper.
The upgrade of the Thule base has not been on the agenda in the Danish Parliament's Greenland Committee or Defence Committee either.
IA MP Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, who represents Greenland in Denmark, emphasised the paramount importance of keeping the Greenlandic government informed. According to existing agreements between the US, Greenland and Denmark, Washington must consult with and inform the Danish and Greenlandic governments about any significant change in the US military operations in Greenland, which date back decades.
Located 1,210 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km from the North Pole, the Thule Air Base is the US Space Force's northernmost base and is home to parts of the global network of missile warning and space surveillance sensors.
Greenland, a remote, barren part of the Danish Realm with a population of less than 57,000, was a colony until 1953 and became a semi-autonomous territory after gaining home rule in 1979. It enjoys considerable autonomy and has a say on most issues, yet remains largely dependent on Copenhagen’s annual locked subsidies, which account for about a third of its budget.
While Greenland remains part of the Danish Realm, despite the growing desire for full independence voiced by several parties, a 1951 treaty gives the US considerable control over the world's largest island. Overall, since 1867 the US has considered, or even made, several proposals to purchase the island from Denmark, the recent of which during the Trump era. It was flatly denied; it soured relations between Washington and Copenhagen and resulted in cancelled state visits.
Greenland's relations with the US have been fraught by the echoes of the Cold War-era military past. In recent years, Greenland’s government has repeatedly urged the US to clean up 30 rusting military installations there, citing risks of radioactive and chemical leakage.