U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a statement on Arctic security and the importance of alliances, emphasizing the interconnectedness of these interests.
“Arctic security matters. So does the strength of our alliances. These interests are not in conflict. They are inseparably linked,” McConnell said.
He highlighted the longstanding tradition of security cooperation among Americans, Danes, and Greenlanders, noting that this collaboration predates NATO. “Close security cooperation between Americans, Danes, and Greenlanders is a tradition older than NATO, the most successful military alliance in human history. Through the Cold War and still today, cooperation with Arctic allies from Canada to the Nordics already grants the United States sweeping access to positions of strategic importance,” he stated.
McConnell criticized any threats or intimidation by U.S. officials regarding American ownership of Greenland as both inappropriate and counterproductive. He warned against using force to seize territory from allies: “Threats and intimidation by U.S. officials over American ownership of Greenland are as unseemly as they are counterproductive. And the use of force to seize the sovereign democratic territory of one of America’s most loyal and capable allies would be an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm to America and its global influence.”
He concluded by stressing that actions undermining ally trust could harm U.S. competition with adversaries like Russia and China: “The northernmost reaches of the globe may well shape our strategic competition with major adversaries like Russia and China for decades to come. But if America behaves as though winning that competition requires trampling the sovereignty, respect, and trust of our allies, we will surely lose it.”
