Denmark plans to allow US troops on its soil

COPENHAGEN (AFP/BLOOMBERG) - Amid rising tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine, NATO member Denmark said on Thursday (Feb 10) it is ready to allow US military troops on its soil as part of a new bilateral defence agreement with the US.

The agreement would signify a change to the Nordic nation’s long-standing policy against foreign troops, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told journalists in Copenhagen on Thursday.

The Scandinavian country has become one of Washington's closest European allies in the past two decades, having fought alongside the US in Iraq.

"The United States has reached out to Denmark, proposing a bilateral defence cooperation," Frederiksen said.

"The exact nature of this collaboration has not yet been defined but it could include the presence of US troops, material and military equipment on Danish soil," she added.

The negotiations are not a result of the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine, but the crisis illustrates the need for more cooperation, Frederiksen said.

"NATO and the United States are guarantors of our security. That is why we join forces with the United States when Western values such as democracy and freedom are under threat," said Danish Defence Minister Morten Bodskov, who was also present at Thursday's press conference.

Denmark’s neighbour Norway, which shares a border with Russia, allowed stationing of US troops on its territory from 2017. It signed a revised defence cooperation deal with the US last April, allowing the Americans to build facilities at its airfields and a naval base.

While the US has its northernmost base, Thule, on Greenland – an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark – no other US military bases are planned on the Danish mainland, Frederiksen said.