Michael de Laine

Stoltenberg proposes large Arctic dimension for future Nordic security

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 10th February 2009

Norway’s former defence and foreign minister says the five Nordic countries should strengthen their security cooperation in the Arctic. Climate change and melting sea ice will open the way for considerable shipping and other activity, making the Nordic region increasingly important in geopolitical and strategic terms, so Nordic cooperation in the northern seas and the Arctic is highly relevant. Because of their geographical proximity, the Nordic countries have many foreign and security policy interests in common, despite their different forms of association with the EU and NATO. A musketeers’ oath and a war crimes investigation unit are also proposed.

Thorvald Stoltenberg, who was once Norway’s foreign minister and also defence minister, said in a new report titled Nordic Cooperation on Foreign and Security Policy that climate change and melting sea ice will open the way for considerable activity in the large sea areas managed by the Nordic countries. This activity includes new shipping routes through Arctic waters to the Pacific Ocean, as well as prospecting and extracting oil, gas and minerals.

“This means that Nordic cooperation in the northern seas and the Arctic is highly relevant,” Stoltenberg said.

He said his work on the report, which involved talks with a wide range of people, especially politicians from both government and opposition parties and a variety of experts uncovered “… a widely held view that the Nordic region is becoming increasingly important in geopolitical and strategic terms.”

Stoltenberg said, “This is a result of the role of the Nordic seas as a production and transit area for gas for European markets and of the changes taking place in the Arctic.”

There is also a widely held perception that, because of their geographical proximity, the Nordic countries have many foreign and security policy interests in common, despite their different forms of association with the EU and NATO.

In addition, “All the Nordic countries are willing to cooperate with the UN and there is widespread interest in expanding the Nordic force contribution to UN operations on the basis of current needs and the comparative advantages of the Nordic countries,” Stoltenberg added.

“The Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish chiefs of defence have recently drawn up a report containing proposals for cooperation to ensure that their defence budgets are used as cost-effectively as possible,” the former minister said. “Modern defence technology is becoming increasingly expensive, making it more difficult for individual countries to fund a modern defence system. This in itself creates a need for Nordic cooperation in the defence sector.

He also noted that all the Nordic countries want to strengthen Nordic cooperation.

“Cooperation among the Nordic states on meeting common challenges in the Arctic is an important aspect of the Stoltenberg report,” senior researcher Paal Sigurd Hilde from the Norwegian Institute of Defence Studies told he BarentsObserver.com newswire.

At a recent seminar organised by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat he explained that the Nordic countries actually have rather diverging geographic security challenges.

“Some of the report’s proposals, such as cooperation in the field of search and rescue, are relatively straightforward and unproblematic,” Hilde told the newswire. “However, the broader and more far-reaching proposals quickly beg the question of whether or not the Nordic states really have common interests in the Arctic in general, and the European Arctic, our High North, in particular.

“Not only do the Nordic countries have what you might call different depths to their High North interests, but even the interests of the Nordic countries that have more direct, ‘physical’ interests in the region, are not necessarily compatible.”

Stoltenberg listed 13 proposals.

Nordic Stabilisation Task Force: The Nordic countries should set up a joint stabilisation task force that can be deployed to states affected by major internal unrest or other critical situations where international assistance is desirable. It would be responsible for stabilising the situation and then creating an environment in which the state and political processes can function properly. It should include both civilian and military personnel.

The task force should have four components: a military component, a humanitarian component, a state-building component (including police officers, judges, prison officers, election observers) and a development assistance component.

Nordic cooperation on surveillance of Icelandic airspace: The Nordic countries should take on part of the responsibility for air surveillance and air patrolling over Iceland. Initially, the Nordic countries could deploy personnel to the Keflavik base and take part in the regular Northern Viking exercises, which are organised by the Icelandic authorities. After this, they could take responsibility for some of the air patrols organised by NATO.

Thus, Nordic cooperation on air patrolling could become an example of cooperation between NATO member states and partner countries that have signed Partnership for Peace (PfP) agreements. The Nordic cooperation could be developed in three phases.

Nordic maritime monitoring system: There should be a Nordic system for monitoring and providing early warning in the Nordic sea areas. The system should in principle be civilian and be designed for tasks such as monitoring the marine environment and pollution and monitoring of civilian traffic. The existing military surveillance systems are not particularly designed to carry out these tasks.

A Nordic maritime monitoring system could have two pillars, one for the Baltic Sea (“BalticWatch”) and one for the North Atlantic, parts of the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea (“BarentsWatch”), under a common overall system.

Maritime response force: Once a Nordic maritime monitoring system is in place, a Nordic maritime response force should be established, consisting of elements from the Nordic countries’ coast guards and rescue services. It should patrol regularly in the Nordic seas, and one of its main responsibilities should be search and rescue.

Satellite system for surveillance and communications: By 2020, a Nordic polar orbit satellite system should be established in connection with the development of a Nordic maritime monitoring system. Such a satellite system could provide frequently updated real-time images of the situation at sea, which is essential for effective maritime monitoring and crisis management.

Nordic cooperation on Arctic issues: The Nordic countries, which are all members of the Arctic Council, should develop cooperation on Arctic issues focusing on more practical matters and covering the environment, climate change, maritime safety and search and rescue services.

Nordic resource network to protect against cyber attacks: A Nordic resource network should be established to defend the Nordic countries against cyber attacks. Its main task would be to facilitate exchange of experience and coordinate national efforts to prevent and protect against such attacks and provide advice to Nordic countries that are in the process of building capacity in this area. In the longer term, the resource network could develop and coordinate systems for identifying cyber threats against the Nordic countries.

Disaster response unit: A Nordic disaster response unit should be established for dealing with large-scale disasters and accidents in the Nordic region and in other countries. The unit’s main task would be to coordinate Nordic efforts as needed. It would maintain an overview of available equipment and personnel and establish a network made up of the many public and private organisations working in this field.

The unit would set up Nordic groups/teams to meet specific needs, for example in the field of advanced search and rescue.

War crimes investigation unit: A joint investigation unit should be established to coordinate the Nordic countries’ investigation of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by persons residing in the Nordic countries.

Cooperation between foreign services: In countries and areas where no Nordic country has an embassy or consulate general, the countries could establish and run joint diplomatic and consular missions.

Military cooperation on transport, medical services, education, materiel and exercise ranges: The Nordic countries should strengthen their defence cooperation on medical services, education, materiel and exercise ranges.

Amphibious unit: A Nordic amphibious unit should be established based on existing units and the current cooperation between Sweden and Finland. The unit could be employed in international operations, and, in the longer term, it should develop its own Arctic expertise.

The term ‘amphibious unit’ here denotes a military unit that can carry out intelligence, reconnaissance and protective missions in the coastal zone. In military terminology the term denotes a unit with sea-going capability based on a large mother ship carrying high-speed boats in an internal dock and equipped with heavy weapons.

Nordic declaration of solidarity: The Nordic governments should issue a mutual declaration of solidarity in which they commit themselves to clarifying how they would respond if a Nordic country were subject to external attack or undue pressure.

Read the full report, Nordic Cooperation on Foreign and Security Policy, here