Rutte has no authority to negotiate on Greenland's sovereignty – Danish Prime Minister

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte does not have the authority to negotiate with the United States on Greenland's sovereignty on behalf of Denmark, according to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. She expressed this opinion in an interview with the newspaper The New York Times.

The media reminded that last week in Davos, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Rutte on a self-governing island within Denmark, which he wants to take control of. At the time, neither side provided many details of the potential deal.

According to Western security officials, discussions since then have focused on establishing a permanent NATO mission in the Arctic, including Greenland; banning China and Russia from mining rare earth minerals on the island; and revising a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the United States that gives Washington broad options for deploying troops on the island.

NATO representatives discussed the possibility of the United States acquiring separate sovereign territories in Greenland, similar to the land claims that the United Kingdom has to military bases in Cyprus.

On Tuesday, Frederiksen said that the idea of granting sovereignty is a "red line" that Denmark and its European allies will not cross. The prime minister emphasized that Rutte does not have the authority to conduct such negotiations on behalf of Denmark.

At the same time, she praised the 1951 treaty, but did not rule out its revision as part of the ongoing negotiations between Danish and American officials.

When asked how the negotiations have changed since Davos, Frederiksen emphasized the potential of a permanent NATO Arctic mission.

"I think we now have a more traditional path that we can take to try to find a political and diplomatic solution. And more support from NATO for a permanent presence in the Arctic region is very positive," she said.

• January 21, 2026, Trump changed his mind introduce additional duties on European states through Greenland. He said he had developed a framework with Rutte for a future agreement on Greenland and the entire Arctic.
• Axios wrote that the deal proposed by the NATO secretary general gives the United States the right to build military bases on the island and create "defense zones".