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12 European nations have urged the European Union to scale up its presence in the Arctic amid threats from Moscow 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 wrote in a joint statement following the European Arctic Summit in Rovaniemi in northern Finland.
The summit was attended by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, among others.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, said the bloc had to remain “vigilant” in the face of increasing Russian military activity in the Arctic, as well as China’s growing interest in the region.
She added that the EU would be revealing a new Arctic strategy in October “that has security at its core.”
“It is clear that this is part of the security architecture of Europe,” Kallas said.
The Arctic acts as an important gateway connecting North America and Europe, providing key transport, communication and trade links.
But it has become a key battleground for strategic maneouvering in recent years.
According to NATO, Moscow has “significantly” ramped up its military activity in the Arctic, establishing a new Arctic Command while opening military sites and testing “novel weapons systems.”
Beijing also has a vested interest in the region, particularly in gaining access to critical minerals, energy, and new communications lines, per NATO.
The Rovaniemi summit comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a trip to Greenland earlier this month as the EU signalled its continued support for the island amid Trump’s repeated calls for the United States to acquire it.
Brussels has attempted to counter Trump by pledging a surge of investment into Greenland, with von der Leyen announcing a €200 million partnership with the autonomous Danish territory during her visit – which is set to be invested this year and the next.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has repeatedly said the US needs to take control of Greenland for “national security” reasons, arguing that either China or Russia would otherwise seize the island, drawing pushback from Europe.
The US is reported to have had 17 military facilities and over 10,000 troops on the island at the height of the Cold War. It now operates just one base on Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base – the US Department of Defense’s northernmost installation.
Pituffik is used for missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions, per the US Space Force.
Additional sources • AFP