EU unveils Arctic strategy to compete with Russia, China and US

The European Union has unveiled a new Arctic policy aimed at strengthening its position against Russia, China and the United States, mbl.is reports. The plan includes expanded satellite surveillance and more icebreakers, as well as improved information-sharing among the bloc’s 27 members to protect critical infrastructure such as undersea cables.

The policy also calls for monitoring threats including Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which transports Russian fuel in defiance of European sanctions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needed to act because concepts such as sovereignty, borders and international rules could no longer be taken for granted.

“The Arctic is one of the places where the tectonic plates of world politics are colliding,” von der Leyen said. She presented the policy in Brussels on Tuesday alongside EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who warned that Russia was sharply expanding its military activity in the north. She said Russia had reopened military bases last used during the Soviet era and tested new weapons in the region.

Kallas also pointed to other security threats attributed to Russia, including drones entering the airspace of EU member states, GPS interference and sabotage of undersea cables. She said these actions undermined the security of EU countries.

Denmark, Sweden and Finland are the EU’s three Arctic member states, and about 500,000 people in the bloc live in Arctic regions, according to the EU. The policy places considerable emphasis on cooperation with northern neighbours, naming Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

EU materials describe the plan as a strategic decision to deepen ties with countries that share the bloc’s values in the Arctic. The aim is to establish a new political framework for cooperation and enable the EU and its partners to develop and finance projects around shared priorities.

An analysis by AFP said the policy appeared largely intended to reduce Europe’s dependence on the United States in the north, particularly after the Greenland dispute strained US-European relations earlier this year. Von der Leyen visited Greenland in September and announced a support package worth about 200 million euros, or 27 billion Icelandic krónur.

Among the other proposals is a project to lay an undersea cable from Greenland to mainland Europe. It is part of a wider plan that would also connect Canada, Japan and South Korea. The EU also wants to secure internet access in the Arctic through IRIS2.