Feb 3, 2026, 6:36 p.mFeb 3, 2026, 6:36 p.m
NATO wants to contribute to the further de-escalation of the alliance’s internal conflict over Greenland with a new Arctic mission. The currently planned activity will once again strengthen NATO’s military presence in the Arctic and in the far north, said Colonel Martin L. O’Donnell from the NATO military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, to the German Press Agency. “Spiegel” had previously reported on the ongoing planning process.
NATO’s military presence in the Arctic is to be strengthened.Image: keystone
According to information from the dpa, the operation could start in the next few days. The reason is that so-called “enhanced vigilance activities” can be initiated by the Commander-in-Chief of NATO Forces in Europe, Alexus G. Grynkewich, even without a formal decision from the Allies. The spokesman did not want to comment on the possible start date or details for the time being. According to information from alliance circles, additional patrols with ships and aircraft as well as exercises to increase the presence are planned.
Deterrence against Russia and China
Most recently, last September, under the impression of airspace violations by Russian fighter jets and kamikaze drones, NATO began the “Eastern Sentry” operation, which primarily mobilized additional surveillance and air defense capacities.
The operation in the Arctic region will be called “Arctic Sentry”. It had already been suggested some time ago by alliance states such as Great Britain in order to defuse the dispute over Greenland. In this, US President Donald Trump temporarily threatened to annex the island of Greenland, which belongs to Denmark, and justified this by saying that Russia or China could otherwise take action.
Conversations between Rutte and Trump
Most recently, after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump announced that a framework for a future agreement on Greenland and the entire Arctic region had been drawn up. This provides, among other things, for security in the Arctic to be guaranteed through joint action by the Allies, in particular by the seven Arctic Allies: the USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
According to information from NATO circles, the USA should also be allowed to expand its military presence in Greenland and may also have the right to have a say in certain investments on the resource-rich Arctic island. It is four-fifths covered with ice and six times the size of Germany, but has just under 57,000 inhabitants.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had already expressed optimism in January that the proposed “Arctic Sentry” surveillance operation would become a “joint operation”. If NATO wants to expand surveillance of the waters around Greenland, the German Navy could, for example, take part with its new maritime patrol aircraft. The first P-8A “Poseidon” machine entered service recently. With the aircraft, the crew is able to monitor large sea areas, track ship movements and locate submarines using radar as well as acoustic and optical systems. (hkl/sda/dpa)