Denemarken verlengt defensie-overeenkomst met VS over Groenland (en)

EUOBSERVER / COPENHAGEN - The Danish foreign minister, Per Stig Moller, and the US foreign secretary, Colin Powell, have renewed a defence agreement from 1951 on a radar base in Greenland.

With the new agreement (6 August), the US will be able to upgrade the Thule radar for eventual use in America's missile defence programme.

The agreement, which also was signed by the deputy chairman of Greenland's government, Josef Motzfeld, allows the US to upgrade the Thule airbase with new computers as well as software to contribute to the warning system of the planned missile defence system.

The outer appearance of the base, a Danish press release states, will not be affected.

An economic agreement and an environmental declaration were also signed.

The Thule airbase was built in the 1950s as a listening post during the Cold War. It is located about 1,500km south of the North Pole.