Denmark wants to invest in the defense of Greenland. The announcement came shortly after Trump said that the US should take over the island

According to Danish Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen, Copenhagen intends to spend “tens of billions” of Danish crowns (one Danish crown = 3.40 CZK) to strengthen Greenland’s defense capabilities. The minister made his statement in an interview with the newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

“For many years, we have not invested enough in the Arctic, so we are now preparing the ground for a stronger presence,” Poulsen emphasized. According to him, the sum should go, among other things, to two new reconnaissance ships, two long-range unmanned aircraft, two new dog sled teams and to the personnel reinforcement of the Arctic Command of the Armed Forces.

That the Danish government announced military investments in Greenland just one day after Trump’s controversial statement was described by Poulsen as an “irony of fate”. He admitted, however, that Denmark cannot guard the vast territory of Greenland alone.

“We have no specific plans in this regard, but we will cooperate with the United States,” said the minister. Denmark and the USA are founding members of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).

Trump made his statement about Greenland on the Truth Social social network when announcing the name of the future ambassador to Denmark. He wrote that “for the purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America believes that the possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

It was not the first statement of this kind regarding Greenland. Already in 2019, when he was in the presidential office, Trump offered Denmark to buy the island, which was met with a sharp rejection by its inhabitants and in Copenhagen.

It was the same now. “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and never will be. We must not lose our long fight for freedom,” responded Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede, according to the DR.dk server. He also admitted that Greenland must cooperate with the USA because – as he added – all trade cannot go through Denmark.