格陵兰安全协议签了：美国多两个基地，主权不变

As early as 2019 Trump proposed buying Greenland; in January this year he again said publicly he wanted the island, not even ruling out other means, and the Arctic suddenly became the center of a diplomatic storm.

On September 22, the storm ended in a different way.

On September 18 the Danish government gave advance notice; four days later, during the UN General Assembly, the leaders of the US, Denmark and Greenland signed a new defense agreement in New York.

Many people's first reaction to the headline was: has the US finally gotten its hands on Greenland?

The answer is no, but the US did get considerably more than before.

To see this clearly, you first need to know Greenland, and then go back to 1951.

Greenland covers about 2.16 million square kilometers and is the world's largest island, yet it has only about 56,000 people, and about 80% of its land is permanently covered by ice.

That year, the US and Denmark signed a defense agreement, and from then on the US stationed forces in Greenland.

The new agreement amends and supplements that old one, keeping the framework from 75 years ago.

The first change is about bases.

In northwest Greenland the US already had Pituffik Space Base, and the agreement allows the US to modernize and expand it.

The US can also build two new bases, at Narsarsuaq in the south and Mestersvig in the east, and keeps the option of adding defense areas later.

The second change is in the air.

US military aircraft can fly over all of Greenland, including its territorial waters, and land anywhere on the island.

The third change is keeping others out.

NATO now has 32 member states; any country outside NATO that wants to set up military facilities in Greenland needs the unanimous consent of all three parties.

Investors from outside NATO and the EU are also barred from some sensitive sectors, such as critical infrastructure and resource extraction.

In other words, although the US did not buy the land, it largely gets to decide who can come in and who cannot.

The fourth change concerns Trump's Golden Dome missile-defense plan.

The agreement allows the US to deploy part of the system in Greenland, making the island a link in North America's air-defense network.

In addition, the agreement has no expiry date.

The old arrangement was tied to NATO's continued existence; that link has been removed, and the agreement will be long-term.

So who actually holds sovereignty?

The agreement reaffirms Denmark's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while recognizing the Greenlandic people's right to self-determination.

That is, the land still belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland still has the right to decide its own future.

The agreement also imagines a more distant scenario: if Greenland one day becomes independent, it must stay in NATO and take on the same obligations.

After the signing, all three parties praised it highly.

Trump called the agreement "tremendous", saying it is good for both Europe and the US.

Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen described it as an agreement that can last a long time.

Greenland's Prime Minister Nielsen said it was a win-win-win, adding: your security is our security, and our security is your security.

NATO's secretary-general and the president of the European Council also welcomed the agreement.

However, signing does not mean it is in force.

On October 12, the 31 members of Greenland's parliament held a first debate on the agreement.

Most members expressed support, but some opposition members questioned how much economic benefit Greenland will actually get.

Under the procedure, the agreement still needs a second reading and then a vote, which it is widely expected to pass.

Looking back, the way this has turned out is thought-provoking.

In January the focus was still the sale of an island; nine months later, what is on the table is bases, flight rights and investment screening.

The US did not get the land but got a deeper military presence; Denmark kept its sovereignty, and Greenland gained more of a say.

As for whether this is really a win for all three, we will probably only know once the new bases are actually built and the island's residents have felt it themselves.

If you were a Greenlandic voter, before parliament's final vote, what question would you most want answered first?