DOMINANT ANGLE
Stockholm is examining the US-Danish agreement in light of its own military presence on the island, where about forty Swedish soldiers are participating this week in the Arctic Shield exercise alongside eleven NATO countries.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
About 40 Swedish soldiers from the Hemvärnet are taking part in the Arctic Shield exercise in Greenland, alongside 400 military personnel from eleven NATO countries, without American participation.
- 02
According to State Department sources cited by Reuters, the agreement prohibits any Russian or Chinese military base in Greenland and any investment in sensitive sectors without written consent from Washington.
- 03
Dagens Nyheter reports that an American investment firm paid several million kronor to the partner of Greenland's political leader Vivian Motzfeldt for the purchase of a house in Nuuk.
ANALYSIS
Stockholm, Saturday, September 19, 2026. The Swedish press receives the announcement of the American-Danish agreement on Greenland through the prism of its own military presence on the island. On Friday evening, Swedish time, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had obtained "permanent control of security and all other needs" of Greenland, an agreement he describes as "eternal", with "unlimited duration" and at no cost to Washington. At the same time, about forty soldiers from the Swedish Hemvärnet, from the Göteborg region, were participating on the island in the Arctic Shield exercise, alongside 400 military personnel from eleven NATO countries, tasked with protecting critical infrastructure and training against drones, a lesson learned from the war in Ukraine — the United States, however, did not take part. Expressen notes that the runway of the abandoned Narsarsuaq airport, the site of this exercise, would be on the list of future bases envisioned by Washington.
The office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen assures that the text "recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the kingdom as well as the right to self-determination of the Greenlandic people; it is to be signed next week, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, before a vote by the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen judges it "to the advantage of us all". According to sources from the State Department cited by Reuters and reported by Svenska Dagbladet, the agreement guarantees the absence of Russian or Chinese bases, prohibits the sending of foreign troops, and provides mechanisms to block investments in sensitive sectors.
Sveriges Radio situates the issue in a strictly security-related reading: according to its correspondent in Washington, Greenland constitutes for the United States "a buffer between North America and adversaries like Russia or China". Dagens Nyheter, on the other hand, relays the doubts of security expert Marc Jacobsen about a real estate transaction in Nuuk: an American investment company would have paid several million kronor to the partner of Greenlandic political leader Vivian Motzfeldt for the purchase of a house, a matter that revives, according to him, questions about American political influence on the island.
SOURCES (5)
- Dagens NyheterMEDIUM
- Svenska DagbladetMEDIUM
- ExpressenMEDIUM
- Sveriges RadioMEDIUM
- AftonbladetMEDIUM
