KANGERLUSSUAQ The thumping of a helicopter rotor can be heard from all directions. The field where the helicopter has landed is located deep within a fjord, and the sound echoes back and forth off the surrounding mountain walls.
The sheltered location between the mountains is precisely why the village of Kangerlussuaq exists at all. The United States built an airbase here in the 1940s during World War II. Nazi Germany occupied Denmark, and Greenland’s security was a concern for the United States during the war.
The war ended, and eventually the subsequent Cold War also ended. In 1992, US troops left Kangerlussuaq.
A village and a village-sized airport remained at the bottom of the fjord.
To demonstrate that Denmark is capable of defending its Arctic territory. Some of the soldiers, such as at least the Germans and Swedes, have already returned home, but according to the Danish Defence Forces, the joint exercise will continue throughout the year.
Inside the airport souvenir shop, vivi Schultz is sewing a knitted hat together at the seams. She has lived in Kangerlussuaq for 28 years. Recently, she has been listening to the sounds of approaching planes with concern.
– When we hear an airplane, we wonder if it’s a military plane or what, she says.
Schultz is not the only greenlander who has seriously considered the possibility of an attack. Even though the idea of the US armed forces invading Greenland is absurd, fear has settled in.
Greenlanders have told of plans to flee to Denmark,others of intentions to leave by boat to the southern parts of the island.
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