Denmark’s government said Tuesday that it would start deploying conscripts to Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.
– “Conscripts will be deployed alongside professional soldiers and will fully participate in all missions,” Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus said in a response to a parliamentary question.
– Broadcaster TV2 had reported that the military was considering deploying conscripts to Greenland, where it has strengthened its presence in response to pressure from the United States.
– US Vice President JD Vance last year accused Denmark of having neglected the security of its giant Arctic territory.
– Tensions have mounted around Greenland after Trump ramped up threats to annex the Danish territory to safeguard US security.
– But he backed down in January from several weeks of threats, announcing that he had reached a “framework” agreement on Greenland with NATO’s secretary general, without giving details.
– Denmark extended the length of its mandatory military service to 11 months last year and opened it up to women in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
– With the longer service, “conscripts are trained so that they can take part in the execution of the armed forces’ missions,” Bruus said.
– In Greenland “conscripts will be assigned to tasks that do not require longer specialized training,” he said.
– However, he did not specify when conscripts would start arriving or how many would be stationed in Greenland.