00:00Let's get more now with Lars Christian Brask, a Danish member of Parliament and chairman of the Nordic Council.
00:07Thank you very much indeed, Mr Brask, for joining us again. Welcome back to CGTN.
00:11And I wonder if you are breathing a sigh of relief, as Rahul was suggesting.
00:17Denmark and Greenland are welcoming the deal. Is that a feeling that you share?
00:22Yes, it's a huge relief that we managed to come to an agreement that there will be peace.
00:30The Greenlanders, they don't have to talk to their kids about the risk of having U.S. soldiers knocking on
00:38their doors.
00:39And the security we get in the Arctic and in Greenland is also a positive.
00:48Indeed, and in your capacity as an MP in Denmark and as chair of the Nordic Council,
00:54what kind of diplomatic statecraft do you think was involved in reaching this moment?
00:59And is it really a win for the United States and a loss of some sense of sovereignty for Denmark,
01:04or is it really a fair compromise?
01:07I think it's a win-win.
01:09The U.S. gets what it wants, the Golden Dome,
01:14and they get, which they also had in an agreement we made, Denmark and the U.S. in 1951,
01:23ability to put up bases where it's needed.
01:28Maybe it's more a matter of having detection systems and defense systems for missiles
01:38rather than actual people on the ground.
01:41But we have achieved that, and that also helps us with, i.e. the Kingdom of Denmark,
01:48with our security.
01:51And Greenlanders, they don't have to fear the future.
01:54So you think that it will make the region safer.
01:58And what do you think the really key details are, and how difficult might it be to put into practice?
02:04I think it's going to be relatively easy to put into practice.
02:12Equipment, the number of personnel that is needed is, I guess, pretty straightforward for a nation like the U.S.
02:21and Denmark and Greenland, we still decide on, of course, we have the sovereignty,
02:29so we decide on schooling, elder care, and health care, et cetera.
02:37So we are protected by the U.S., as we are under the NATO agreement,
02:43but now it's just the U.S. that sort of has the lead in protecting Danish interests and Greenlandic interests.
02:52Okay, and Donald Trump described this agreement as giving the U.S. permanent control over security
02:58and all other needs in Greenland.
02:59I mean, it's quite a strong word, isn't it, permanent?
03:01Do you think, in fact, it could be reversed once Donald Trump is out of the White House?
03:07Yeah, but why should we do that?
03:09We have a permanent agreement with NATO, Article 4 and Article 5,
03:14that's very important in terms of keeping peace in the world and helping each other when it's needed.
03:22Denmark has helped the U.S. in at least two big wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
03:27and now we are getting help in terms of protecting and securing the Arctic.
03:35Well, we really appreciate your time and your insights today.
03:37Thank you so much for joining us, Lars Christian Brask, Danish lawmaker and chairman of the Nordic Council.
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