Greenland Lawmakers Vote to Approve Trilateral Arctic Security Agreement with Denmark and United States

Key facts

• Greenlandic lawmakers voted 16-0, with seven abstentions, in Nuuk to approve a trilateral security agreement between Greenland, Denmark and the United States to strengthen security in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
• The agreement was signed in September 2026 by US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
• The deal paves the way for more US bases in Greenland while keeping the self-governing island under Danish control, and would still apply if Greenland chooses independence.
• The agreement requires Washington to award contracts for setting up, maintaining or dismantling bases to Greenlandic sources to the maximum extent possible.
• The deal will enter into force once the necessary parliamentary processes of the Kingdom of Denmark, in conjunction with Greenland, are completed; Danish lawmakers are set to debate it later in November 2026.
• The US State Department said the vote marks another major victory for American national security and secures America's strategic interests in the Arctic.