Twelve European countries meeting in Finland on Monday urged the European Union (EU) to beef up its presence in the Arctic – a contentious geopolitical battleground caught between Russia and US President Donald Trump.
“We call for the European Union to take on a more strategic and proactive role in the European Arctic,” the countries’ leaders wrote in a joint statement following a European Arctic Summit in the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, attended by Denmark, France, Germany, Greece and Sweden, among others.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc was in need of icebreakers, but it was not immediately clear if she was proposing joint acquisition or urging member states to bolster their own capacities.
Given “the situation that we are in, and considering climate change and the opening of maritime routes, we need icebreakers or ships that are able to navigate in these very difficult” conditions, Kallas told reporters.
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In January, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen suggested the EU could direct part of its ongoing surge in defence spending on a “European icebreaker capability,” which is traditionally considered a civilian capability, among other equipment vital to Arctic security.
Interest in the Arctic has grown substantially since the adoption in 2021 of the EU’s latest policy strategy for the region.
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Trump’s repeated threats to bring Greenland – a vast, autonomous Danish territory – under US control have since then triggered a diplomatic crisis among Washington’s allies.
While his tone has cooled since the beginning of the year, EU countries are determined to increase their presence in the region – well aware of a hostile neighbour on the other side of Finland’s long eastern border.
Mounting tensions
Pointing to “the significant and long-term threat Russia poses”, countries said Moscow‘s ambitions to increase its influence in the Arctic and its “hostility towards Europe, including the increase in hybrid activities, highlight the need to strengthen the EU’s Arctic policy”.
Officials present included Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, EU foreign policy chief Kallas and EU Council President Antonio Costa, as well as leaders from countries such as Romania and Greece.
“What happens here is not a regional story. It is a European one,” Costa said.
No formal decisions were taken at the summit.
But the European Commission is expected to present a new Arctic strategy in a matter of weeks, which will steer the union’s approach to the Arctic over the coming years.
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Countries and leaders can still have a say on the final document, “so in that sense this is quite a timely meeting,” Tuomas Tikkanen, senior adviser on European Affairs to Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who initiated the summit, told AFP.
“The idea is essentially to strengthen the EU’s common strategic approach to the Arctic in this situation, where the geopolitical and economic significance of the region is growing considerably,” he said.
Melting ice
Interest in the region has increased significantly since the EU’s last Arctic policy was adopted in 2021, reflected in the number of high-level guests from non-Arctic countries in attendance.
“The security environment has changed a great deal, and there has been a lot of interest in the region recently,” Tikkanen said.
Leaders discussed topics ranging from economic interests to security.
The Arctic region is warming nearly four times faster than the global average as a result of climate change, according to experts, leading to severe consequences for both the environment and local livelihoods.
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As sea ice melts, countries such as Russia, China and the United States have been ramping up activity in the region, racing to claim natural resources and new maritime routes.
China and South Korea sent container ships to attempt to transit the Northern Sea Route in Russian waters in August, testing its viability as the passage remains free of ice longer each year.
Trump insisted earlier this year that Washington needed to control Greenland for national security reasons, though he ultimately ruled out annexing it by force.
Soon after, in an apparent move to assuage Trump, NATO launched a new mission to bolster security in the Arctic.
During a visit to the vast island on September 7, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a 200-million-euro ($232-million) package for Greenland, vowing to “be more present and to be more engaged in Greenland and in the Arctic”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
