The Arctic Policy of the Kingdom of Denmark defines the Kingdom's (Denmark together with Greenland and the Faroe Islands) foreign relations and policies with other Arctic countries, and the Kingdom's strategy for the Arctic on issues occurring within the geographic boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its peoples. In order to clearly understand the Danish geopolitical importance of the Arctic, it is necessary to mention Denmark's territorial claims in areas beyond its exclusive EEZ (Exclusive economic zone) in areas around the Faroe Islands and north of Greenland covering parts of the North Pole, which is also claimed by Russia.
Background
Despite having among the largest Arctic territories, Denmark has the smallest Arctic population. The Kingdom of Denmark is an Arctic nation; however, this relies heavily on the importance of the unity of the Realm, where Denmark as a country itself is not an Arctic state whereas the self-governing autonomous countries – Greenland in the Arctic and the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic – are. Regardless of the different characteristics of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark has a common interest in addressing the challenges and exploiting the opportunities arising from the Arctic region's rapidly changing conditions and the increasing interest from the outside world in the region. The Danish Kingdom's Arctic policy shapes its relations with other Arctic countries as well as its own policies. Denmark is a member of the Arctic Council, the Nordic Council, the EU, NATO and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which all have an effect on Denmark's Arctic policy. Despite having a common Arctic policy within the kingdom, Greenland has taken over the area of mineral resources in 2009, where decisions on development, exploration and extraction of mineral resources in Greenland are made by the Greenlandic authorities.
In Denmark, Greenland has been the government's main focus within its Arctic strategy since after the Cold War. A new Danish Arctic Strategy for the period of 2021–2030 is delayed which is partly due to Greenland's intention to develop its own strategy first, which is perceived as a means for Greenland to increase its influence in Danish foreign policy. In the beginning of 2023, Greenland was close to completing its own strategy, which indicates that a new strategy for the Kingdom will be released soon. Denmark's Arctic Strategy and its general interests in the region is in many ways dependent on Greenland's membership in the Kingdom of Denmark, which also is why the Danish government aims to minimize any tensions between Greenland and Denmark.
The Kingdom of Denmark's Arctic policy concerns topics such as environmental issues, military presence, such as the Joint Arctic Command in Nuuk, mineral resources and fisheries in the Faroe Islands.
The Danish government released a new foreign policy and security strategy in May 2023 which underlines the Danish focus on security and geopolitical issues within its Arctic areas.
Denmark's geopolitical role
Denmark uses its resources and niche diplomatic competences in regards to frame themselves as a coherent entity as a Kingdom in order to become a major voice within the Arctic Council with a common voice, which is however constantly challenged, especially by Greenlandic politicians' and civilians' desire to become more sovereign.
As also apparent in other international constellations, the United States remains Denmark's primary and most important ally within the Arctic region. Former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeppe Kofod, made that clear in the Danish Foreign Policy Review of 2019. The close cooperation refers to Denmark welcoming the increased interest and activities from United States in Greenland, namely with the overall aim to ensure that the United States presence will bring tangible benefits to the Greenlandic society but also in order to ensure security from interference from non-Arctic actors, Russia or China. However, the aim of securing the Kingdom of Denmark's areas as well as maintaining being a regional actor within the Arctic requires both greater commitment to developing Arctic policies but also enhancing greater cooperation and dialogue within the Kingdom of Denmark with a mutual understanding of the security challenges and shared defense. Here, the former Danish Minister of Defense, Trine Bramsen, put emphasis on the fact that despite close cooperation within the Kingdom, Denmark cannot reach adequate situational awareness in the Arctic alone, whereby closer cooperation between the Arctic allies is needed.
Greenland Surely, the vision of Denmark as an Arctic superpower will only last as long as the Danish Kingdom can be seen as a unity. Professor Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen from the University of Tromsø has pointed out that Denmark has the potential to become the world's first post-Arctic nation but without Greenland, Denmark would lose 98% of its landmass and any significance as an Arctic power. Some scholars have argued that Denmark tries to use Greenland to strengthen its bilateral relationship with the United States, but that Greenland's increased autonomy and the constitutional arrangement within the Kingdom of Denmark have come to shape Danish Arctic policy as well.
The Faroe Islands
International cooperation on sustainable management of fish stocks in the north has the highest priority for the Faroe Islands, both through multilateral coastal states consultations, bilateral agreements, and regional fisheries management organizations, particularly The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) whose convention area extends to the North Pole. The Faroe Islands are seeking independent membership in the NEAFC. The Faroe Islands prioritizes active participation with their associate membership in both the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to participation in international organizations, it is important for the Faroe Islands to continue and strengthen their relations with the other countries in the Arctic area, particularly Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, the United States and Canada. It is also important to continuously develop relations with countries with a particular interest in the Arctic area, including the United Kingdom, Scotland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, and EU member states, as well as the EU as an organization.
Danish Arctic policies The Illulissat Declaration Denmark ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2004 and following this submitted documentation for territorial claims north of Greenland among other places in the Arctic. This entailed significant challenges pertaining to national security for Denmark as a rather small state to uphold sovereignty of a vast area. The Norwegian government with Jens Stoltenberg as Prime Minister, NATO's current Secretary General, made the Norwegian 'High North Policy' the main anchor of Norwegian politics as early as 2005, and when Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller invited the other Arctic littoral states, the United States, Canada, Russia and Norway to a summit in Ilulissat, Greenland, in 2008, Danish diplomacy gained both honor and useful experience. This was because the five states – also known as the Arctic Five – confirmed their peaceful intentions in the Arctic and established their own special rights in the region at this summit. The Ilulissat Declaration from 2008 is a document signifying necessary joint regional efforts and responsibilities in response to the potentially adverse effects of climate change with regard to the melting Arctic ice pack and it has played an important role in recent Danish Arctic policy. The Ilulissat Declaration contains a regional maritime governance perspective, since it was crucial for the Arctic Five and was seen by many as a response to Russian explorers planting the Russian flag at the bottom of the seabed of the Arctic Ocean in 2007. The Declaration specifies that cooperation should include search and rescue capabilities, protection, preservation and collection of scientific data. The cooperation between the Arctic Five already took place before the Declaration, so the declaration was merely expected to act as a reassertion of the roles and responsibilities which needed to be taken seriously.
The declaration ultimately has helped Denmark to maneuver as a small state in the Arctic as well as within the Arctic Eight and the Arctic Council, since Denmark took over the chairmanship in the Arctic Council in 2009 after the declaration with aims aligning very much with the content of the Illulissat Declaration. In addition, the declaration marked an "Arctic turn" according to scholars such as Larsen (2021), because after 2008 the Arctic has increasingly been considered an important arena for regional diplomacy in which Denmark should be fully engaged. Previously, Danish foreign policy towards the Arctic had almost only concerned the relatively limited military defense of Greenland and the bilateral relationship with the United States.
All things considered, the larger focus on Arctic Policy post 2009 has been somewhat surprising, since it was a standard practice for Danish Prime Ministers to downplay Greenland's importance to Denmark after the Cold War. In addition, former Danish Prime Minister H. C. Hansen signed a secret agreement in 1957 that gave the United States access to store nuclear weapons at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland (formerly Thule Air Base), and there has generally been a geopolitical element in Denmark's interests in Greenland, which successive governments have chosen to nurture without too much publicity.
Sovereignty over Hans Island
As a demonstration of the capacity to find peaceful resolutions in line with the principles of the Ilulissat Declaration, a joint working group was established by the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the governments of Greenland and Canada. This initiative took place following the Ilulissat Summit with the aim of providing recommendations to address outstanding border issues between the two countries. These issues encompassed matters of sovereignty regarding Tartupaluk (Hans Island) and the maritime delimitation of the waters between Greenland and Canada. Building upon the outcomes of this collaborative effort, Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland signed a comprehensive boundary agreement on June 14, 2022. This agreement effectively resolves the sovereignty dispute over Tartupaluk and establishes a land border between Greenland and Canada on the island. Additionally, it establishes the maritime boundary within both the 200 nautical miles zone and beyond, spanning a distance of 3,962 km, from the Lincoln Sea in the north to the Labrador Sea in the south. This newly defined and modernized maritime boundary stands as the world's longest maritime boundary.
Arctic policy 2011–2020
In August 2011, the Kingdom of Denmark published its strategy for the Arctic for the period 2011–2020. Concurrently, the Joint Arctic Command was established, consolidating the North Atlantic defense structure in Nuuk. Through this, Denmark formulated a strategy for present and future activities in the Arctic region, emphasizing close cooperation with other coastal states in the Arctic. The strategy was built upon the premise that common solutions can be negotiated based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, international treaties, and judgments of the International Court of Justice.