The European Union plans to strengthen its presence in the Arctic and insist that the Northern Sea Route remains accessible to international shipping. Brussels is preparing a new Arctic strategy that includes investment in icebreakers and increased monitoring of the region, the EU's foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas told Britain's The Times.
According to Kallas, Europe must work more closely with the US and Canada to prevent "full control of Russia and China" over the Northern Sea Route. According to her, EU and NATO countries will insist that the route be “open to all ships“.
Interest in the Northern Sea Route is growing because of its potential to significantly shorten the transport distance between Asia and Europe compared to the traditional route through the Suez Canal. Its importance is also increasing against the backdrop of instability in the Middle East and risks to some of the world's main maritime transport corridors.
Russia is developing the Northern Sea Route as a strategic transport artery along its Arctic coast, and China is also showing increasing interest in using Arctic routes. It is precisely the deepening of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the region that is among Brussels' main concerns.
Kallas announced that the European Commission will present its new Arctic strategy on October 20, which will update EU policy from 2021.
Among the planned measures are investments in the construction of new icebreakers and the creation of a center for monitoring Russian activity in the Arctic. The EU is also expected to increase the use of its satellite systems for monitoring and navigation in the region.
According to the information presented, the new strategy also envisages changes in the current approach to the extraction of energy resources in the Arctic. Relaxation of restrictions on the development of offshore oil and gas fields is being discussed, with Brussels seeing potential mainly in the Norwegian Arctic shelf.
The aim is for the prospect of developing new fields to attract investment and at the same time support Europe's energy security.
Separately, the EU plans to launch an Arctic monitoring program in 2027. It envisages using the European satellite systems Copernicus and Galileo to detect and track potential threats on land and sea.
Moscow has reacted critically to Brussels' increased interest in the region. Russia's representative to the Arctic Council, Vladislav Maslennikov, said that the EU is moving towards escalation and politicization of cooperation in the Arctic.
The new European strategy comes at a time when the Arctic is gaining increasing economic and geopolitical importance - not only because of new maritime transport routes, but also because of its energy resources, the need for new port and shipping infrastructure, and the increasing competition between major world powers.