The UK government has proposed the creation of a new international military mission, tentatively named Arctic Sentinel, whose main objective will be to ensure the security and protection of Greenland in the context of the rapidly changing geopolitical and climatic situation in the Arctic.
According to information announced during the last meeting of the House of Commons Defence Committee, it has been proposed to form a multinational force with a permanent presence, which will include elements of the navies, air forces and special operations forces of NATO countries, as well as possibly some non-NATO partners (primarily Canada, Norway and, potentially, Finland and Sweden).
Key points of the British proposal:
Permanent naval patrols in the Danish straits and around the south-eastern and eastern coasts of Greenland;
Deployment of an enhanced surveillance system (radars, satellite support, drones);
Creation of several logistics support points and dual-use airfields;
Coordination of actions with the Kingdom of Denmark while maintaining Denmark’s formal sovereignty over Greenland;
Official positioning of the mission as “defensive and stabilizing,” aimed at countering the “growing military presence of third countries in the region.”
According to British Defence Secretary John Healey, ‘The Arctic has become a strategic theatre of global importance much faster than anyone predicted five years ago. Greenland is a key geostrategic hub, and we cannot allow it to fall under uncontrolled influence.’
Experts are already calling the UK’s proposal the most serious and concrete step among NATO countries towards militarising their presence in Greenland since the end of the Cold War.
The issue is expected to be discussed at the next NATO defence ministers’ summit in February 2026.