Sweden said Thursday it would send fighter jets to patrol Greenland as part of a newly launched NATO mission in the Arctic aimed at placating US President Donald Trump.
The government said in a statement Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets would patrol Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, as part of NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission.
“As a NATO ally, Sweden has a responsibility to contribute to the security of the entire territory of the Alliance. The Arctic region is becoming increasingly important from a strategic perspective,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
The government said that as one of the transatlantic alliance’s seven Arctic states, Sweden welcomed “an increased NATO presence in the region”.
In a separate statement, the Swedish Armed Forces said the fighter jets would be based out of Iceland, where six aircraft have been stationed since early February as part of the rotating incident response force NATO Air Policing.
It said the contribution would primarily involve “various training activities together with the Danish Air Force”.
Swedish special forces would also be sent to Greenland to take part in training exercises for a couple of weeks, the military said.
NATO has said the Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, will initially pull together undertakings already being carried out by its members in the region.
But it is still unclear whether many additional military capabilities will be deployed to the region under the new mission.
Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, which he based on an alleged threat by Russia and China in the Arctic, last month plunged NATO into its deepest crisis in years.
He backed down after saying he had reached a “framework” deal on Greenland with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
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