Danish MP suggests deploying soldiers to Greenland amid aggressive US hints

The Danish People’s Party (DF) has proposed deploying 100 armed Danish soldiers, equipped with ship-targeting missiles, to Greenland in light of the United State' recently expressed interest in purchasing the island.

The right-wing political party also wants to establish a new home guard in Greenland and introduce mandatory military conscription for its residents, Caliber.Az reports citing Danish media outlets.

“We need to send a clear signal that we are ready to defend the Kingdom, and it is important to involve Greenlanders in that effort so they take greater responsibility,” said Danish MP Alex Ahrendtsen from the DF.

Although DF has previously floated the idea of conscription in Greenland, Ahrendtsen now believes the time has come to move forward. At the moment Greenlandic men and women that possess a with permanent residence have the right to serve in the Danish military voluntarily yet there exists no system of conscription.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his administration's desire to "purchase" and "take control" over Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark in Northern America. Its geographic location and proximity to the Arctic are of strategic importance to global trade routes and have catapulted the island into global headlines as the Arctic increasingly becomes a battleground for control, with the US, Russia, China and other countries being interested parties.

By Nazrin Sadigova