The US Doesn't Plan To Add A Military In Greenland That Trump Wants To Control

Illust, Greenland.FOTO Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The United States currently has no plans to increase its military presence in Greenland.

This was conveyed by the US Embassy in Copenhagen in response to the intention of President-elect Donald Trump to annex the vast Arctic island.

Trump, who took office on January 20, said US control of the strategically important island was an "absolute necessity" and did not rule out the use of military or economic actions such as tariffs against Denmark to make this happen.

Greenland, the world's largest island, has been controlled by Denmark for centuries, although 57,000 of its population now regulates their own domestic affairs.

"There are no plans to increase the current footprint of the American military in Greenland," a US Embassy spokesman in Copenhagen told Reuters on Thursday, January 9.

"We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk (the Greenland capital) to ensure that every proposal meets our common security needs," he continued.

The US military maintains a permanent presence at the Pituffik air base in northwest Greenland.

Greenland is critical to the US military and its ballistic missile early warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes through the island.

"I think America is quite worried that Russia may launch or initiate a major attack on the United States, and that could be done from the Russian side," analyst at Nordic Defense Analysis Jens Wenzel told Reuters.

"There is no real monitoring of the airspace in Greenland, most of the airspace is free for all," he said.

Greenland is already protected by US security guarantees through Denmark membership in NATO.

Although the former colony now has its own government within the Danish kingdom, security and foreign affairs are still being handled by Copenhagen.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said he could not imagine the United States would use military intervention in Greenland while handing over a "decision" to the Greenland people for what they wanted.