Military deployment in Greenland is a borderline expertise | EUROtoday

The troopers of European NATO international locations count on exceptionally troublesome circumstances throughout their reconnaissance mission. “It is very, very difficult to operate up here, especially in the countryside,” stated the top of the Arctic Command, Søren Andersen, to the German Press Agency in Nuuk. “Training is necessary” for this. Under the impression of the annexation plans repeatedly expressed by US President Donald Trump, members of the Bundeswehr, amongst others, arrived in Greenland on Friday. Germany and different nations are initially desirous about an exploratory mission earlier than the precise navy train.

On Saturday, Trump escalated the dispute and introduced further tariffs in opposition to Germany and 7 different European international locations from the start of February, together with Great Britain and Denmark. The staggered tariffs will apply till an settlement is reached on the entire buy of the Arctic island, Trump stated. The US President is aggravated that troopers from European international locations have been despatched to Greenland.

“We, my soldiers up here, are used to it, but there are a lot of armed forces units – including in Denmark – that are not used to working up here either,” stated command chief Andersen. Special gear is required, “special sleeping bags, special winter equipment.” In addition, it is simply “special to work in an environment where there are no trees, it’s hard to hide, so you have to operate in a very specific way and that’s something you have to learn,” stated the command chief.

Germany described Andersen as a detailed associate of Denmark “with whom we work incredibly well.” The German navy has many capacities. “These can be special forces as well as aircraft,” stated Andersen, who additionally named submarines and ships that would prepare within the far north.

It is totally different than working within the Baltic Sea. “The fairways here are full of ice, it is dangerous to sail here, there are different waves up here,” stated Andersen. “The temperatures are below zero – when we come to Kangerlussuaq, on a normal winter day it can be minus 30, minus 40 degrees.”

According to the Defense Ministry in Berlin, the German troopers are purported to test circumstances for joint navy workouts. The query is whether or not the Arctic is secure and to what extent Germany and its NATO companions can contribute to this, stated the spokesman. The German group – 15 women and men – consists of logisticians and consultants from totally different areas.