The pre-agreement reached on the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum on Greenland consists of four pillars, according to European newspapers, which include the renegotiation of the agreement for American troops to remain on the Arctic island for the creation of the anti-missile shield Golden Dome (Golden Dome, in Portuguese) and US control over investments in the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The four foundations of the pre-agreement – forged this Wednesday afternoon at the Swiss Alpine resort between US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and in whose negotiations the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was also involved – were detailed by German media outlets such as The mirror e The Welt.
These are the four currently known points of the pre-agreement, according to the publications:
Cancellation of tariffs
In the first point of the text, it is generally stated that “the threat of imposing new tariffs is removed”.
Trump had already announced last night that he will give up imposing new tariffs on the eight European countries that sent soldiers to Greenland from February 1st to participate in military maneuvers led by Denmark.
In turn, the leaders of the European Union (EU) had planned to debate this Thursday, in an extraordinary summit, different possibilities to respond to this threat, including the most forceful measure, the so-called anti-coercion instrument – nicknamed the “trade bazooka” – and the introduction of tariffs worth around 93 billion euros on American imports.
Renegotiation of Troop Agreement in Greenland
An agreement on the presence of troops in Greenland dating back to 1951, amended in 2004 and titled “Defense: Greenland”, will be renegotiated. This document, in its first article, states that the Thule or Pituffik air base, in the north of the Arctic island, “is the only defense zone in Greenland”.
The aim is to amend it again to include a clause on the Golden Dome, the anti-missile shield that Trump wants to establish and which will cost around $175 billion.
Trump wants the shield, inspired by Israel’s, to be operational by the end of his current term, in 2029, and to protect – mainly from a possible threat from China and Russia – not only the USA, but also Canada.
Investments in Greenland
The US government may intervene to control investments in Greenland. This way, it could prevent competing countries, such as China or Russia, from securing resources on the island. Trump had already said this the day before, in an interview with the broadcaster CNBCthat the pre-agreement will include rights to rare earth minerals on the island.
Commitment of European countries to Arctic security
European NATO countries are more firmly committed to security in the Arctic region. This is a demand from Trump, who used the supposed presence of Chinese and Russian ships and submarines around Greenland as an argument to assert that he wanted to “obtain” the island for national security reasons, and that only the USA would be able to guarantee the security of this “mass of ice” to protect his country and the world.
As far as we know, no mention of the island’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which Denmark and Greenland have always refused to hand over to Trump, is included in the pre-agreement.
Greenland deal does not question Danish sovereignty, says prime minister
The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, stated this Thursday that the agreement on Greenland on which the US is working with NATO does not discuss Denmark’s sovereignty over this autonomous territory, as reported by the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte.
“NATO absolutely knows the position of the Kingdom of Denmark. We can negotiate on everything political: security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty. I was informed that this was not the case either. Naturally, only Denmark and Greenland can make decisions on issues that concern Denmark and Greenland,” Frederiksen said in a statement.
Frederiksen highlighted that the Danish government coordinated its actions with that of Greenland throughout the process and maintained a “close dialogue” with NATO, and that she herself spoke with Rutte “both before and after his meeting with President Donald Trump in Davos”.
“The Secretary General of NATO has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Greenland, nor does he have a mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark,” Frederiksen emphasized in a later interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR and the channel TV2.
