Among Danish ministers, politicians, and intelligence officials, there is a clear sense that the U.S. indeed plans to spy on Denmark and Greenland.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, based on two anonymous sources, that, last week, the top U.S. intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, ordered the U.S. intelligence system to gather information on Greenland’s independence movement and its views on exploiting the Greenlandic underground – as well as identifying individuals in both Greenland and Denmark who are supportive of President Donald Trump’s desire to control Greenland.
The information in The Wall Street Journal has not been confirmed, but Danish authorities note that Tulsi Gabbard has not denied it either.
This puts the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) in a unique position, as one of PET’s many tasks is to prevent, detect, and uncover foreign espionage activities in Denmark.
But can we really imagine a scenario where PET agents start counter-espionage against the U.S. – perhaps by monitoring American diplomats? Some say yes. Others say no.
One skeptic is Thomas Wegener Friis, a lecturer at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) who researches the workings of intelligence services.
»I believe PET neither can nor will spy on the Americans,« he says.
Friis argues that it would be a very difficult task operationally for PET, and Denmark has had a very close intelligence cooperation with the U.S. for decades, with the U.S. being Denmark’s most important ally.
»It means that PET would have to spy on those they often meet with,« he says.
However, Thomas Wegener Friis has no doubt that the U.S., with Trump in the White House, will send agents to Greenland and Denmark because Trump wants to acquire Greenland.
»To use one of Trump’s own expressions, Denmark has no cards to play in this game. The asymmetry between the U.S. and Denmark is so enormous that Denmark has a hard time putting up a fight,« he says.
The spirit of PET
In contrast, Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen and Frank Jensen have a completely different assessment. Both have pasts as operative chiefs in PET. They point out that in the world of intelligence, there are no friends, and it is part of PET’s professionalism to counter foreign espionage, regardless of the countries behind it.
»In this context, it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about Russia, China, the U.S., or some other country,« says Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen. He reminds us that Denmark expelled three CIA agents in the late 1970s because they had conducted illegal wiretapping of the then North Korean embassy in Copenhagen.
Following the article in The Wall Street Journal, the Danish Foreign Ministry summoned the American chargé d’affaires, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, for a meeting on Thursday, a serious step in diplomatic terms. But Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen can imagine that PET will simultaneously hold a meeting with the American embassy to get a sense of whether the story in The Wall Street Journal holds water.
If it does, PET would likely make the embassy aware of the provisions in the Danish Penal Code and that a violation could lead to expulsion from Denmark, according to Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen.
»After that, PET will ensure that countermeasures are taken. If, for example, Danish and Greenlandic politicians need to exchange sensitive information, PET will ensure it can be done through secure phone lines or in rooms that are protected against eavesdropping,« he says.
Double agents
Frank Jensen, who succeeded Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen as operative chief in PET in 2007, takes it for granted that the U.S. under Trump will have a clear interest in finding out what Denmark and Greenland discuss with each other. However, he believes American agents will also try to recruit politicians, journalists, influencers, and others who can sway public opinion in Greenland and Denmark.
»Therefore, PET will also start monitoring whether there are opinion-formers who suddenly begin to express different pro-American views. If so, PET might approach them and possibly hire them as double agents, asking them to inform PET about their conversations with the Americans,« he says.
In Nuuk, the American consulate has so far been housed in a modest red wooden building, but soon the consulate will move into larger office spaces and increase its staff from the current handful of employees. Frank Jensen considers it very likely that some of the consulate’s staff will be intelligence agents working under the guise of diplomats.
»It is a completely natural way for intelligence services to operate,« he says, predicting that PET will therefore increase its surveillance of American diplomats.
Unlike Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen, he is not sure that PET will directly warn the American embassy against violating the Danish Penal Code by engaging in espionage.
»If PET approaches them, it is unlikely to deter the U.S. from spying. But PET risks that the U.S. will just do even more to conceal its activities,« says Frank Jensen.
