After U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled his tariff threat against Denmark and other European countries and announced a settlement, the first details are emerging. NATO sources say that former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte presented a proposal that would create a new monitoring mission for the alliance in the far north and would have the United States take over military bases in Greenland, as the “FAZ” reports.
Similar ideas were apparently circulating before. Two NATO officials confirmed that the plan is modeled on the British bases on Cyprus-Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Those two air force bases remain part of the United Kingdom even after Cyprus gained independence in 1960, a status that was defined in the treaty that established the Republic of Cyprus. The areas are administered by the British Ministry of Defence, are classified as “Sovereign Base Areas”, and may be used solely for military purposes, not for economic exploitation, nor are they a separate state.
Today the United States operates only one base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), which falls under U.S. Space Command. During the Cold War Washington maintained 17 bases on the island. Governments in Copenhagen and Nuuk have expressed openness to increasing the U.S. military presence, and a 2004 agreement indicates that such an expansion would be straightforward.