US to Establish Two New Military Bases in Greenland
Washington plans to establish military sites at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig under an agreement with Denmark and Greenland, expanding the U.S. presence beyond Pituffik Space Base.
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The U.S. plans to establish two military bases in Greenland under a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland, including reviving a former Cold War installation in the territory’s south, according to three people familiar with the deal.
Washington intends to return to Narsarsuaq, where the U.S. operated the Bluie West One base until the 1950s, while establishing a second site at Mestersvig on Greenland’s east coast, two of the people told Reuters.
Two Sites Identified
Narsarsuaq now has a population of only a few dozen people following the closure of the former U.S. military facility.
Mestersvig is an existing military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit operating in Greenland.
The arrangement would give the U.S. military a presence at two additional locations beyond Pituffik Space Base, currently its sole remaining installation in Greenland.
Agreement Set for Signing
Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. are expected to sign the agreement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET, or 1430 GMT, on Tuesday.
The agreement has not been made public. Three people familiar with the negotiations said its provisions would remain subject to change until the document is signed.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A White House spokesperson declined to discuss the agreement’s details, reiterating an earlier statement that the deal would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”
NATO Role in Arctic Security
Denmark has said the agreement would place Arctic security under NATO oversight rather than leave responsibility solely with Copenhagen and Washington.
The negotiations followed months of pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants the U.S. to control Greenland and has at times declined to rule out military or economic measures to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Polling cited in the draft indicates that an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders reject that prospect.
Trump’s pressure, which peaked in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into talks with Washington to ease tensions.
U.S. Footprint Set to Grow
The planned bases would mark a partial return to the much larger U.S. military presence maintained in Greenland during the Cold War.
At that time, Washington operated 17 military installations in the territory and deployed more than 10,000 personnel.
Pituffik Space Base is now the only remaining U.S. installation, with about 150 American military personnel stationed there.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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