Lawmakers in Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory, on Tuesday approved an agreement with Denmark and the United States aimed at strengthening security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The deal passed 16-0, with seven members abstaining.
The trilateral agreement was signed in September by US President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It followed months of quiet negotiations amid tension over Trump's repeated threats to take control of the vast, resource-rich island.
Greenland's foreign minister, Mute Egede, wrote on Facebook that the road to ratification had been difficult for Greenlanders as a people, but that they had stood by their principles and chosen dialogue. He said the deal was about "our security" and "our right to shape our own future".
The agreement opens the way for more US bases in Greenland and allows Washington to modernise and expand its activities at the Pituffik Space Base in the island's northwest. Greenland stays under Danish control, but the deal would continue to apply if it later chose independence.
It will enter into force only after Denmark's parliamentary process is complete. Danish lawmakers are due to debate it later this month, while no US Senate approval is required. Greenland, the world's largest island, has about 57,000 people.