NUUK — Under a security agreement signed Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, NATO will take over Arctic security from the United States, and the alliance has already begun embedding a permanent inspector with every sled dog team in Greenland.
The Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said the deal ensures that «responsibility for Arctic security does not rest with Denmark or the United States alone.» He confirmed that NATO will now maintain a standing sub-command in Tasiilaq, staffed by officers from eleven member states, and that each of Greenland's roughly 1,200 sled dog teams will carry a NATO liaison who must approve all routes, rest stops and barking schedules.
«This is the logical extension of collective defence,» said a NATO spokesperson. «We are simply ensuring that no adversary can move through the Arctic without passing a dog team that has been properly certified.»
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the agreement grants the United States «permanent control over security and all other needs in Greenland,» adding that «no enemy will have a base there without written approval from Washington.» Danish officials did not respond to the claim, but confirmed that the 1951 defence treaty remains in force and that NATO will now handle all Arctic patrols.
In Nuuk, the new NATO Arctic Command has requisitioned the entire harbour district for a joint operations centre, forcing the local fishing fleet to relocate to a fjord 40 kilometres north. The first NATO-certified sled dog patrol is scheduled to depart next week, with a Danish general personally inspecting each harness.