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U.S. Plans: Official Danish Report Favors U.S. Radar Upgrade in Greenland By David Ruppe No final decision has been made yet, however, and vocal opposition persists from the Danish Parliament and newspapers and Greenland’s home-rule government. A parliamentary hearing is scheduled this month and a debate is scheduled for April. The radar, at the U.S. Thule Air Base in remote northwestern Greenland, would be intended primarily for tracking ballistic missile attacks launched from the Middle East toward the U.S. mainland, experts say. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark with no legal foreign policy authority. The native population largely opposes granting the request, citing previous negative experiences with the U.S. base and concerns about being targeted for attacks because of the base. Positive Response The Danish Foreign Ministry report says official consideration of the issue had produced an “immediately positive response to the American request.” “Security is achieved in partnership. Denmark stands to benefit from a collective security guarantee in NATO. We must ensure that this security guarantee remains as credible as possible,” the report says. It also says, though, that further debates and discussions are planned for the coming months, an indication that no final decision has been made. By comparison, the United Kingdom, which had received a similar request, indicated its preference for approval and then announced approval before public discussions and parliamentary consideration were fully concluded (see GSN, Feb. 6). Addressing a range of criticism, the Danish report says the upgrade would not make Greenland a target for terrorists or rogue states nor further destabilize the international system. It also says approval of the request would not oblige Denmark to participate in the system, or to pay for it, but would make it easier for Denmark to join the system in the future if it chose. Danish critics have said the radar itself, because of its location, would provide no protection to Denmark from missiles launched from the Middle East. Opposition Persists The issue is controversial in Denmark, with at least one vocal party arguing against the request. The chairman of Greenland’s home-rule government, Hans Enoksen, has called the report one-sided for only representing Danish points of view, according to Jorgen Dragsdahl, a Danish journalist who has been tracking the issue closely and opposes approval. Enoksen also criticized the Danish government for releasing the report only in the Danish language, according to Dragsdahl, because Enoksen “can’t read Danish.” Enoksen reportedly said he sent a letter of protest to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Some politicians are trying to link approval of the U.S. request to a renegotiation of a 1951 security agreement between Denmark and the United States, so as to allow Greenland to become a party and to receive direct compensation from Washington for use of the facility. The report says Denmark is willing to “work with” Greenland’s home-rule government in “modernizing” the treaty. U.S. officials have said they prefer not to renegotiate the treaty.
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