The United States plans to re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and establish another military site on the island’s east coast under a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously to Reuters.
The two sites are Narsarsuaq, where the U.S. previously operated Bluie West One before closing the base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit. Narsarsuaq’s population has since declined to a few dozen people, according to Reuters.
Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign the agreement Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York at 10:30 a.m. ET. The agreement’s text has not been made public, and sources said its details will not be finalized until it is signed.
Denmark says the agreement will place Arctic security under NATO rather than leaving it solely to the United States and Denmark. During the Cold War, the U.S. maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with about 150 U.S. military personnel, according to Reuters.
