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New Agreement Will Strengthen Greenland’s Defense

After lengthy negotiations, an agreement to strengthen the Defense in the Arctic in Greenland and the North Atlantic has been reached.

Three new Arctic ships and two drones are among investments in the Arctic agreement worth almost 15 billion kroner. Greenland’s Minister (Naalakkersuisoq) for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt (in the photo), is pleased, among other things, that the admission to Arctic Basic Training is being expanded. Photo: Emil Helms / Ritzau Scanpix

After lengthy negotiations, an agreement to strengthen the Defense in the Arctic in Greenland and the North Atlantic has been reached.

This was announced by Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen at a press conference at the Ministry of Defense on Monday evening.

Denmark's Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen, Greenland's Minister for Independence and Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt (not seen in this picture) and members of the coalition present a defense agreement on the Arctic and North Atlantic in the Ministry of Defence in Copenhagen. Source: Reuters

The agreement allocates almost 15 billion kroner ($ 2 billion), the Defense Minister said. This amount corresponds to 41% of Denmark's defense expenditure in 2024, since the total defense budget amounted to 36.2 billion DKK in 2024 according to the Danish Finance Act for 2024.

Among other things, three new Arctic ships and two additional long-range drones for surveillance will be acquired, it says.

The new ships will eventually replace Denmark's four Thetis-class inspection ships, all of which are old and worn out. Source: Sea forces

The agreement was reached between the government and the defense compromise group, of which only the Alternative and the Unity List are not part.

The press conference will also be attended by Naalakkersuisoq's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt. She says that the three new ships in the Arctic "ensure robustness".

We are also convinced that the security situation has changed, and we must take that into account.

For me, the acquisition of new Arctic ships has been a major priority. I know what a big role they play. They mean a lot to the security of individual Greenlanders, says Vivian Motzfeldt.

The Greenland Government is pleased that an expansion of admissions to the Arctic Basic Education Program has also been agreed:

The education is of great importance, and I look forward to following the students in the future, she says.

The Greenland Government wants to utilize local knowledge to be present in remote areas - especially in eastern and northern Greenland, says Vivian Motzfeldt, who also says that an analysis will be made of whether an organization similar to the Canadian Rangers should be established.

Troels Lund Poulsen states that the Arctic Agreement on Monday is only a first partial agreement on the Arctic and the North Atlantic.

It is important to say that there will also be a need to do more and take further political initiatives. We have decided to do this by the summer of 2025.

The Minister of Defense also says that a new naval plan is also on the way. Negotiations on this will begin in March.

Source: Sermitsiaq (in Danish)