Denmark favours hosting US troops

Despite soaring tensions over Greenland, Denmark is moving forward with a defence agreement to host US troops for 10 years.

Denmark’s parliament on Friday inched toward ratifying the military cooperation deal with the United States that would allow Washington to expand their military rights granting broad access to station troops and store vast war equipment in three Danish bases.

According to Reuters, recent opinion polls show significant opposition among the Danish population, particularly after the Trump Administration’s threat to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

However, according to a Voxmeter poll, 41 per cent of Danes support the defence agreement, 33 per cent oppose it, and 27 per cent remain undecided. The dispute over Greenland has not swayed the Danish parliament and government’s decision to move forward with the agreement they say is critical to boosting Denmark’s defences. 

According to a Scandasia report, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has called the agreement a “historic step” that reinforces Denmark’s NATO role and increases the country’s collaboration with transatlantic security.

This Nordic country’s stance comes at a moment when the entire EU regards Russia as an increasing threat to the region’s security due to its war in Ukraine.

This US-Denmark bilateral cooperation agreement was signed in 2023, when President Joe Biden was still in office.

The Danish parliament introduced a bill on March 28, 2025, to enact the defence deal. If approved, it would allow the US to post soldiers and build their own installations at Aalborg, Karup, and Skrydstrup air bases in Jutland.

The deal allows the US to permanently post soldiers at Aalborg, Karup, and Skrydstrup air bases in Jutland, with their jurisdiction near these bases unspecified.

The final vote is expected in June

The Danish parliament’s final vote on this military deal is expected to take place by the end of June. Two more readings of the bill are scheduled before the PM’s vote.

Earlier this month, Denmark hosted NATO’s Operation Raven Assistor exercises, considered a show of force to demonstrate the Alliance’s ability to move tens of thousands of troops from 32 countries across the Atlantic and reinforce Europe’s defense.

In 2019, Trump first mentioned taking over Greenland. When he took office this year, he ordered his Administration to analyse the cost of annexing it. According to a New York Times report, Trump believes the takeover would cost the United States circa $200 billion.

He also floated the idea of giving each Greenlander $1 million, which, given the country’s population of approximately 56,000, would cost $56 billion.

The US president sees taking over Greenland as a “very good deal” for America because of its natural resources and strategic value. “You’d make your money back very quickly,” he said.