King Receives Pentagon Confirmation of U.S.-Greenland-Denmark Cooperation with Arctic Operations

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) questioned Pentagon officials on the status of military operations in the Arctic, specifically those involving collaborations with Greenland and Denmark. In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), King asked General Francis Donovan, United States Marine Corps Commander of United States Southern Command whether Greenland was continuing to support American national security interests under the 1951 treaty.

Senator King began, "I want to follow-up on Senator Shaheen's questions with regard to discussions, consultations, negotiations with Denmark and Greenland with regard to additional security assets in Greenland. Number one, are there to discuss is taking place? And number two, are they productive? Number three, are you meeting any resistance to establishing additional security assets in Greenland?

"Senator, we are pursuing with Denmark expansion on the defense areas, which we are allowed in the 1951 agreement," General Donovan replied.

Senator King agreed, "The 1951 agreement is quite comprehensive. We don't really need a new treaty."

"It is very comprehensive and frankly very favorable to our operations or potential operations in Greenland," General Donovan answered, "Working with the Department of State, we have three areas that we would like to negotiate with Denmark and Greenland to see if we can expand the defense areas from Pituffik where we are now into these other areas which would help our homeland defense mission."

Senator King followed up, "My final question is are you meeting any resistance, are they being cooperative and receptive to these discussions?"

General Donovan confirmed, "Senator, very cooperative with both Greenland and Denmark, very eager to discuss ways to move forward to improve our defense capabilities."

Last month, Senator King led a bipartisan Congressional Delegation to Greenland to reinforce relations and respect with the people of the Arctic nation. The trip came as the American administration was threatening to annex, buy or otherwise take over the island nation. Weeks before that trip, Senator King hosted a delegation from the Kingdom of Denmark to emphasize the importance of deescalating tensions following recent comments from the executive administration about acquiring Greenland.

As Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus, Senator King is an advocate for Maine and America's interests in the North Atlantic and Arctic region - as Maine is the first port in the contiguous 48 states that will see increased traffic via activity in northern waters. He has been calling for the appointment of an Arctic Ambassador since 2015, and pushed for the confirmation of the first Arctic Ambassador last year. As a Congressional authority on High North policy, King also laid out the challenges and opportunities of a warming Arctic in an article in the Wilson Quarterly, and in last year's National Defense Authorization Act, he successfully secured the inclusion of provisions including funding authorizations for University of Maine to increase America's activity and opportunities in the Arctic.

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