OSLO: Canadian and Nordic leaders on Sunday announced that they would deepen collaboration, especially in the area of defence and Arctic security, a region where tensions are rising.
After a meeting in Oslo, the prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Canada in a joint statement reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation “at a time characterized by heightened geopolitical tension, war and a multitude of crises”.
“With everything going on now, with a war going on in Ukraine, a United States unfortunately lifting up sanctions on Russia, a war in the Middle East, countries like ours have to stand together,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference.
All members of NATO, the six countries said they would strengthen ties in the areas of defence, trade, low carbon energy, technology and mineral resources.
They also stressed their “unwavering” support for Ukraine.
The High North has long been shielded by the concept of “Arctic exceptionalism” — the notion that the region had its own set of unwritten rules of cooperation which were immune to geopolitical rivalries.
But regional dynamics between Russia and the West have deteriorated since the start of the war in Ukraine and due to US President Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
“We’re all facing a growing list of challenges,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told a press conference in Oslo.
“Challenges to Arctic security, challenges that come from the changing nature of warfare, the challenges which interact with changing technology and conflicts, both actual and virtual that are moving closer to all of us,” he continued.
The meeting comes as around 32,000 troops from 14 countries including the US are taking part in the Cold Response exercise in Norway and Finland, held every two years and aimed at training together in extreme winter conditions.
Warming three to four times faster than the planet, the Arctic is attracting increasing interest as the melting sea ice opens up greater access to resources — such as oil and gas, minerals and fish — as well as new shipping routes.
The leaders also reaffirmed that in their view, Russia represented the main threat looming over the Arctic.
“On the longer horizon you can see China,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store added.
In February, NATO launched its Arctic Sentry mission to bolster security in the region, a move to assuage US President Donald Trump after he backed off claims on Greenland, which he has argued Washington needs for national security reasons.
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