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Danish commentators on Saturday cast a deal announced by US President Donald Trump to give Washington control over Greenland\u2019s security as a diplomatic win for Copenhagen.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since returning to the White House last January, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needed Greenland \u2014 an autonomous Danish territory \u2014 for strategic reasons, triggering months of tension with NATO ally Denmark and concern across Europe.<\/p>\n Trump on Friday said the US, Denmark and Greenland had struck a deal giving Washington permanent control over Greenland\u2019s security and barring Russia and China from setting up bases in the Arctic territory.<\/p>\n The exact terms of the deal are unclear, but Denmark maintains it does not affect its sovereignty.<\/p>\n While Trump hailed the accord as \u201ca dream come true for the United States of America\u201d, Danish commentators were quick to argue that Copenhagen had emerged largely unscathed.<\/p>\n \u201cShhh. Don\u2019t tell Trump that it\u2019s the Kingdom of Denmark that has prevailed,\u201d US correspondent Jacob Heinel Jensen wrote in the Danish newspaper Berlingske.<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0craziest thing is that ministers, diplomats and civil servants have managed to sell it to Trump as a major personal triumph,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Commentators also noted that Washington was already able to ramp up its military presence on the island provided it informs Denmark and Greenland in advance, under a 1951 defence pact, updated in 2004.<\/p>\n Marc Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, told AFP that, based on what is known so far, the deal appeared to benefit all three parties.<\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump gets out of it that he can appear as a winner. He has been a good businessman who has pushed Denmark and Greenland into something new,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom experience, we know that he has to come across as a winner, not least on the home front, if he\u2019s going to be able to get out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n That was particularly important, Jacobsen argued, with Trump facing both an unpopular war with Iran and a trade war with Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has no need to open yet another front against Greenland, and possibly a trade war with the EU,\u201d Jacobsen said, referring to concerns raised by remarks Trump made earlier this year.<\/p>\n For Greenland, an \u201cimportant win\u201d would be additional economic compensation linked to an expanded US military presence, the researcher noted.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the Danish side, this will mainly be about appearing as a good partner, both for Greenland and for the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Torsten Jansen, a US commentator for broadcaster TV2, argued Trump did not appear to have secured anything he could not likely have gotten through conventional diplomacy.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though Trump is trying to blare it out as a victory, it is, as I see it, a spectacular defeat,\u201d said Jansen, according to TV2.<\/p>\n In practical terms, Jacobsen said a deal meant talk of the US annexing Greenland \u201cwas no longer on the table\u201d, but, from Trump\u2019s description of it, it would also not change much on the ground.<\/p>\n During the Cold War, the US maintained as many as 25,000 troops and 17 military bases on Greenland, meaning a military build-up was already possible, he explained.<\/p>\n Trump also stressed that the deal would prevent adversaries, specifically China and Russia, from setting up bases on the island.<\/p>\n But Jacobsen pointed out that Denmark had already blocked a Chinese company from buying a former military base in Greenland in 2016.<\/p>\n In Copenhagen, Kathrine Rasmussen, a 47-year-old lawyer, told AFP she hoped the deal would allow the issue to be put to rest.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be nice if we could end these discussions. At least that would be a good outcome, so we can move on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n cbw-jll\/rh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u2018Spectacular defeat\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u00a0\u2018Move on\u2019<\/h2>\n