US to open two new military bases in Greenland, sources say

COPENHAGEN/WASHINGTON — The U.S. plans to re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and set up another on the east coast, now used by the Danish dog sled patrol, under a deal to be signed with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The sites are Narsarsuaq, whose population has dwindled to a few dozen people since the U.S. closed its Bluie West One military base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit, said two of the people.

Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign their new agreement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday.

The text of the agreement has not been made public and the three people familiar with the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said its details will not be finalized until it is signed.

The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the agreement, repeating an earlier statement that its signing on Tuesday would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”

Denmark says the agreement puts Arctic security under the watch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military defense alliance, rather than leaving it solely to the U.S. and Denmark.

The deal follows months of pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long said he wants the U.S. to control Greenland and has at times refused to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory. The idea has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders, polling shows.

Trump’s threats, which peaked in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations with Washington aimed at defusing the pressure.

During the Cold War, the US maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, with some 150 U.S. military personnel.

哥本哈根/华盛顿——据三位知情人士透露，美国计划在格陵兰岛南部重建一个冷战时期的军事基地，并在东海岸（目前由丹麦狗拉雪橇巡逻队使用）建立另一个基地。这项协议将于周二与丹麦和格陵兰岛签署。

据其中两人称，这两个地方分别是纳尔萨克（Narsarsuaq）和梅斯特斯维格（Mestersvig）。纳尔萨克自 20 世纪 50 年代美国关闭其布鲁伊西一号军事基地以来，人口已锐减至几十人；梅斯特斯维格是丹麦特种部队“天狼星狗拉雪橇巡逻队”使用的军事前哨。

预计丹麦、格陵兰和美国将于周二美国东部时间上午 10:30（格林尼治标准时间 14:30）在纽约联合国大会上签署新协议。

协议文本尚未公开，三位知情人士匿名表示，协议细节要等到签署后才能最终确定。

丹麦和格陵兰政府尚未立即回应路透社的置评请求。

白宫发言人拒绝就协议细节发表评论，并重申了此前的声明，称周二签署该协议将“确保和捍卫格陵兰岛和美国的安全”。

丹麦表示，该协议将北极安全置于北大西洋公约组织（军事防御联盟）的监管之下，而不是仅仅留给美国和丹麦。

这项协议是在美国总统唐纳德·特朗普数月施压后达成的。特朗普长期以来一直表示希望美国控制格陵兰岛，并且一度拒绝排除使用军事或经济手段来获取这个半自治的丹麦领土的可能性。民调显示，绝大多数格陵兰岛居民都反对这一想法。

特朗普的威胁在1月份达到顶峰，引发了北约内部的外交危机，并迫使丹麦和格陵兰与华盛顿进行谈判，以缓解压力。

冷战期间，美国在格陵兰岛维持着17个军事设施和超过1万名人员。如今，仅剩皮图菲克太空基地，驻扎着约150名美军人员。