European Union Launches New Strategy to Strengthen Its Position in the Arctic

Brussels, October 20 (KUNA) -- The European Union launched a new strategy today, Tuesday, to bolster its position in the Arctic amid intensifying geopolitical competition with Russia, the United States, and China, and growing security challenges facing the region. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking before the European Parliament, said that Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic and its adoption of hybrid strategies against neighboring countries pose challenges to the region’s security and stability. She added that sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the rules-based order that had underpinned stability in the area could no longer be taken for granted, emphasizing the need to act and shift the EU’s strategic approach to address these challenges in cooperation with partners. She noted that the new strategy presented by the European Commission reaffirms the EU’s commitment to keeping oil, coal, and gas in the ground, including in polar regions. The document stressed that the Commission would work with partners to protect the Arctic environment and prevent the development of fossil fuel reserves that threaten the region’s fragile ecosystem. Notably, the new strategy did not include a commitment from the 2021 strategy to pursue a binding multilateral legal agreement that would prohibit the development of new fossil fuel reserves in the Arctic and adjacent areas, or the purchase of products resulting from such activities. The EU attaches strategic importance to the Arctic due to its vital role for European security and the global economy, as well as its reserves of critical raw materials and emerging sea shipping routes, amid growing climate change impacts on its environment and populations. (End) A.R.N. / N.S.A.