Nordic nations to dispatch warplanes for Greenland drills

The move by Sweden and Denmark comes as tensions with the US have escalated over President Donald Trump’s push to acquire the island

Sweden and Denmark will send a group of warplanes to take part in a NATO exercise centering on Greenland and the Arctic, officials in both countries have announced. The move comes as US President Donald Trump presses the EU on handing over control of the island to Washington, citing national security concerns.

On Friday, speaking ahead of the Munich Security Conference, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Copenhagen would deploy four F-35 fighter jets to NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission. He stressed that the US-made jets would “strengthen the overall presence in the region,” adding that the US was also expected to contribute to the mission.

A day earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed the country’s participation in the exercise, saying Stockholm would contribute JAS 39 Gripen aircraft “in the area around Iceland and Greenland.” In a separate statement, the Swedish military said an unspecified number of ground troops would also be deployed to the island.

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The announcements come after a major rift between the US and European NATO members over Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory with around 55,000 people. At one point, he suggested that the US could resort to military force to accomplish the goal, though he later walked back on his statement.

EU nations have rejected Trump’s demands, saying that “Greenland belongs to its people” and urging the US to respect its sovereignty. Later, Trump signaled the sides had come to a “framework of a future deal,” with reports suggesting that the US would control parts of Greenland by designating them as sovereign military base areas.

Trump has argued that the US needs Greenland to deter Russia and China in the Arctic. Moscow has indicated that it has no stake in the row but warned of a response in case of the militarization of Greenland and vowed to protect its interests in the Arctic.