NATO announced yesterday that it has launched a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic, as part of efforts to ease serious tensions within the alliance caused by US President Donald Trump's demand that the United States take over Greenland.
The new mission, called "Arctic Sentinel," will coordinate the allies' growing military presence in the region, including exercises such as Denmark's "Arctic Endurance" in Greenland, NATO's military command said.
NATO did not specify how many soldiers would participate or what types of military assets would be deployed in the mission.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the mission would unite the efforts of different members under a single command, at a time when Russia and China are showing increased interest in the Arctic, where melting ice is opening up new shipping routes.
“Not only will we be able to use what we already do much more effectively,” he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “We will also be able to assess where there are gaps that we need to fill. And, of course, we will fill them.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the German military will participate in the first phase of the mission with four Eurofighter aircraft and aerial refueling capabilities.
"What happens after that will be coordinated within NATO between the partners tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," he said.
NATO began planning the mission after Trump and Rutte spoke in Davos last month, amid the crisis over Greenland, sparked by Trump's insistence that the US must take over the territory, which is part of NATO member Denmark.
Trump said that the United States needs Greenland for national security reasons, highlighting its strategic location for detecting long-range missile attacks on America. He did not rule out the possibility of taking Greenland by force and threatened to impose tariffs on Denmark and seven of its European partners.
Danish and other European leaders have countered that the US already has a military base in Greenland and that, under a 1951 treaty, it can further expand its presence. Some European officials have said that Trump is primarily motivated by a desire for US territorial expansion.
In Davos, Trump said he would not use force to take over Greenland and agreed with Rutte that NATO should take a greater role in securing the wider Arctic region.
The goal is to “maintain stability” in the Arctic.
The new mission, which NATO calls "enhanced vigilance activity" in its terminology, will be led by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
"Arctic Sentinel reaffirms the Alliance's commitment to protecting its members and maintaining stability in one of the most strategically important and environmentally challenging areas in the world," said US Air Force General Alexus G. Grinkiewicz, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, in a statement.
Denmark has announced that it expects to make a significant contribution to the Arctic Sentinel mission, in close coordination with Greenland and the Faroe Islands, but that the precise scope of its participation will be determined through further development of plans with allies and NATO.
Earlier, British Defense Secretary John Healy stated that British forces would play a key role in NATO's Arctic mission.
The British government also announced that the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force is planning a major military activity in the far north, with hundreds of troops to be deployed to Iceland, the Denmark Straits and Norway during an exercise planned for September.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) consists of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
New distribution of responsibilities
The launch of Operation Arctic Watch comes at a time when the United States is signaling a strategic shift and a redistribution of key command functions between America and its European allies has begun within NATO. While Washington is announcing a stronger focus on the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific, the division of responsibilities within the alliance is being redefined, without a dramatic American withdrawal from Europe.
US officials are telling European leaders that they do not expect a significant reduction in the US military presence on the continent for now, Politico reports, citing seven US and NATO sources. However, minor adjustments are planned - including limited withdrawals of individual personnel and rotational forces, as well as redeployments that in some cases will not be replaced. Despite this, the vast majority of the approximately 85.000 US troops will remain in Europe. An additional obstacle to a larger withdrawal is a law that obliges Washington to keep at least 76.000 troops.
At the same time, the Donald Trump administration is making it clear that it expects Europe to take on a greater share of the burden of its own defense. This is reflected in the redistribution of command functions within NATO. Britain, Italy, Germany and Poland are expected to take over leadership of certain key command centers, while the US will shift part of its operational focus to other strategic regions. Washington's message, according to "Politika" sources, is that the changes will not be sudden, but that they are inevitable.
The topic is likely to be discussed at today's meeting of defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby will attend instead of Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett - in what is being interpreted as a slight by the US defense chief.
Colby, seen as a hardliner on Europe and the architect of the recent US defense strategy, is not expected to present new plans. However, it will be “quite clear that the US expects Europe to quickly step up its efforts and send a signal that while change may not be immediate, it is coming,” a NATO official told Politico, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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