When Copenhagen signed a new defense agreement in December 2023 that gave U.S. air bases “unhindered contact” with the Denmark air base, the idea of ​​granting U.S. troops on Denmark lands was very different from today’s proposition.

The United States of Biden's administration was an unwavering NATO ally at the time, Denmark had fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Nordic neighbors Sweden, Finland and Norway reached similar agreements with the United States.

But then, Donald Trump returned to power and made unprecedented efforts to acquire or seize Greenland, a crucial part of the Kingdom of Denmark. He refused to rule out the exclusion of using military forces to take over the island, and U.S. intelligence agencies were reportedly ordered to increase espionage in the territory.

Now, with only over a year, Denmark is preparing to pass the agreement next month after a vote in parliament on June 11, when it is expected to be approved, fearing its potential impact will increase.

The agreement means that U.S. soldiers will be in Denmark under U.S. jurisdiction, which means that if they commit crimes anywhere in Denmark, they will be punished first under the United States rather than the Danish legal system.

It also brought our soldiers into Danish air bases in three cities in Denmark - Karup, Skridstroup and Aalborg - and provided Danish civilians with American soldiers and gendarmerie power at these locations and outside.

It allows the United States to conduct military activities in Denmark - including standing personnel, storing military information and equipment, maintenance, training and exercise activities.

"If the bill passes, we risk the right to conduct demonstrations outside one of its bases to maintain security and control of its bases," Peter Vedel Kessing, a senior fellow at the Danish Institute of Human Rights, told the Defense Council's legal question. "If armed American soldiers use too much force against protesters, Denmark will not have the possibility of prosecution of them."

He added: "If the bill passes and American soldiers commit illegal acts in Denmark, prosecution of such actions will be beyond the scope of Denmark's control and the Danish legal system."

Vedel Kessing said the bill should not be passed until it is "determined" that the agreement does not violate "an unwritten constitutional prohibition that prohibits other countries, including the United States, from exercising official authority on Danish territory."

Last month, when the Department of Defense consulted and said that Americans would have the right to “exercise power over civilians on Danish territory if necessary to use, operate and defend, and control the U.S. military’s facilities and areas of the agreement, it would have the right to “grant Americans to exercise power over civilians on Danish territory.”

At the time, the Danish United Party called the power of the new United States "shocking". "We are transferring law enforcement to foreign military police is very far-reaching," Trine Pertou Mach, a diplomatic spokesman for the party, told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Under the agreement, this is an irrevocable 10 years. But last week, Denmark Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Denmark would be able to withdraw early if the United States was to take over Greenland.

"It goes without saying that the full or partial annexation of Greenland will have the right to terminate the defense cooperation agreement," he wrote in a parliamentary response.

The Danish Ministry of Defense told the Guardian that the new agreement would "authorize the U.S. military to exercise all rights and authority necessary for the use, operation, defense or control of agreed facilities and areas." This will include “taking proportional measures to maintain or restore orders and protecting U.S. military, U.S. contractors, Danish contractors and dependents,” they said.

The spokesman said these rights and authorities must exercise in accordance with a security plan coordinated with the appropriate authorities in Denmark.

The spokesman added: "The Danish authorities will monitor how to implement security plans in cooperation with the U.S. military. Therefore, under Article 6, the authorities granted to U.S. forces on Danish territory are not unlimited."

“Finally, it is important to mention the agreement that, as the general principle of the agreement, the sovereignty of Denmark, constitutional and constitutional practice, legal and international legal obligations should be fully respected.”