The US retaliatory move to deploy a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) aircraft to Greenland after Denmark boosted its military presence in the Arctic island has thrown up questions about the over 100 Danish soldiers posted at various US bases if the row escalates.
As per local Danish media, there are approximately 100 Danish soldiers working on or at US military bases or military installations around the world. The soldiers are either deployed on specific missions or stationed at American facilities for longer periods, according to Danish national broadcaster DR News.
Some of them work as staff or liaison officers and carry out a wide range of tasks. These soldiers carry out tasks in staffs or headquarters as so-called staff or liaison officers. Others are on training or educational stays. This applies, for example, to the Danish contingent at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where Danish fighter pilots are trained to fly F-35 fighter jets.
According to Danish Defence Academy associate professor Peter Viggo Jakobsen, the current sabre-rattling by the US won’t necessarily affect the deployed Danish soldiers. “They do their job, and the vast majority of their American colleagues keep their mouths shut about their position,” he told the broadcaster.
However, if the situation escalates further, the Danish soldiers could be seen as potential spies. “And in the extreme case, they can be sent home or asked not to show up. They can't shoot us,” Jakobsen added.
However, Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl, a naval captain and researcher specialising in military law at the University of Southern Denmark, believes it could be serious for those deployed if the crisis develops into the US using force against Denmark. “If, in the extreme, it comes to the use of armed force by the United States against the Kingdom of Denmark, then the deployed soldiers will technically be prisoners of war at that moment who may risk being interned,” he said.
That is precisely why the authorities should have a plan ready, he points out.
“If the crisis develops in a worse direction than it already is now, where the White House will not reject the use of military force, then there may come a time when one should consider pulling the deployed and seconded personnel back to Denmark. It would be a drastic step to take, because it would in itself be an escalation. But if it comes to a declaration of war, then it is something that the authorities have to deal with,” Buhl added.
The Danish Armed Forces have no comments on any internal instructions to Danish soldiers at American bases.
However, the current crisis over Greenland, which has pitted Denmark against the US, has created uncertainty among the deployed Danish military personnel. Niels Tønning, chairman of the Danish Officers' Union (HOD), which is a trade union for the Danes on American bases, acknowledged the confusion among the Danish soldiers. “The uncertainty that they must have, the Armed Forces as an employer must, of course, be handled by increasing communication to them and providing information about where we stand, and whether there are any things that they should be aware of. Itis an employer's obligation,” Tønning told DR.