Denmark plans to significantly increase its defense spending in Greenland, aiming for a stronger presence in the Arctic region. This announcement follows President Trump's recent reiteration of his desire for the US to buy Greenland.
Denmark has announced plans to boost its defence spending for Greenland with a 'stronger presence in the Arctic ' - a few hours after Donald Trump repeated his call for the US to buy the vast island. Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the package would amount to a 'double-digit billion amount' in krone, or at least $1.5bn (£1.2bn).
He told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper the money would be used to buy two inspection ships, two long-range drones and two sled dog teams as well as more personnel for Denmark's Arctic Command in the capital Nuuk. Denmark will also upgrade the Kangerlussuaq Airport so that it can handle F-35 fighter jets. Greenland, which sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, is 80% covered by an ice sheet and is home to a large US military base. The world's biggest island, whose capital is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, has mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. But development has been slow, leaving its economy reliant on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark. 'For many years, we have not invested sufficiently in the Arctic, now we are planning a stronger presence,' Mr Poulsen said. He called the timing of the announcement an 'irony of fate', coming just hours after Mr Trump's latest comments on purchasing the territory. With the Pituffik air base, Greenland is strategically important for the US military and its ballistic missile early-warning system. Greenland defiant The president-elect sparked anger on the territory when he wrote that American ownership and control of the island was an 'absolute necessity' for 'purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world'. Its prime minister Mute Egede hit back, saying: 'Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.' And Danish defence minister Mr Poulsen said: 'My response to Trump is the same as the prime minister's
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