In the event of an attack on Danish territory or on Danish military personnel outside Danish territory, Danish soldiers have a duty to counterattack.
This is stated in a custody order from 1952, writes Berlingske.
This would mean that the Danish Armed Forces soldiers in Greenland would have to take up arms if American forces attacked, the media outlet writes.
The order states, among other things, that the attacked forces must without hesitation "engage in battle without waiting for or seeking orders".
Orders still apply
The Defense Command and the Ministry of Defense confirm to Berlingske that the restraining order is still in effect.
The issue has become topical after US President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to gain control of Greenland for the sake of US national security.
Use of the US military has not been ruled out.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) said that "everything will stop" if the US were to choose to attack Greenland and thus Denmark.
Speaking to Berlingske, naval captain and researcher at the Department of Strategy and Military Science at the Danish Defense Academy, Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl, calls the order from 1952 "unambiguous".
The US must report activities first
As an example of an attack, he mentions that it could be if American soldiers sailed or flew into Greenland and tried to take control of the government buildings. Or if they threatened Danish soldiers.
The United States already has very broad limits for its military presence in Greenland as a result of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States.
But their activities must be reported first, explains Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl to Ritzau.
- So it's clear that if soldiers from the US Marine Corps suddenly show up who have no business there, there's probably only one logical explanation, the way the world looks now, he says.
Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl points out that American activities in Greenland could also function as "a cover for slander".
"It could be a Trojan horse, so we have to be careful. If we overreact, it could also be used as a pretext to take control," he explains.
It will be the military leader on site, the commander of Arctic Command, who assesses and interprets whether a situation is an attack, says the researcher.
- Greenland is vital to American security
Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl believes that the defense agreement with the United States made good sense when it was made.
- Greenland is of vital interest to American security, and we would like to accommodate that. If we did not do that, the United States would probably take legal action, because it is somewhere a question of the existence of the United States.
He points to Pituffik Space Base - Thule Air Base - which is an American military base in Greenland from 1952. It is "their eyes against incoming missiles towards the USA", says Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl.
The 1952 precautionary order was triggered by Germany's attack on Denmark on April 9, 1940. When communications partially broke down, many military units did not know what to do, according to the Danish National Dictionary, lex.dk.
To avoid ending up in the same situation, the precautionary order must ensure that military forces and units, without further orders, engage in combat by attacking.
/ritzau/
