Norway's New Arctic Strategy Will Be Launched This Month
In August, the Norwegian government will present Norway's new Arctic strategy, a strategy to pave the way forward for the region and consider the geopolitical changes that have taken place over the past years. (Photo: Martin Steinholt)
Bodø, Northern Norway (High North News): The Norwegian government will present Norway's new Arctic strategy in Kirkenes later in August, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide (Labor) tells HNN. The cooperation with Sweden and Finland will, among other things, be of greater significance.
"The Arctic strategy updates the Arctic policy to the time we live in and considers the geopolitical changes that have taken place in the past years, both the negative development, but also the opportunities that have arisen, not least for cooperation north in the Nordic region," said the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide (Labor), to High North News.
Norway's current Arctic strategy was presented by the Solberg Cabinet in 2017. A new strategy was heralded earlier this year.
The new strategy will launch later this month in Kirkenes, confirms Barth Eide. Yet, he does not want to share too much of what it contains.
"20 years have passed since we first said that the High North is Norway’s number one foreign policy priority. Since then, the Arctic policy has seen a major boost, and is just as relevant, but must also be placed in a new reality," said MFA Barth Eide. (Photo: Martin Steinholt)
"We see the national significance of solidly investing in the North, and we will present this as a whole when we launch the strategy," he adds.
However, he underlines that developing businesses, society, infrastructure, and knowledge institutions in the North is not just a task that politicians in the North are concerned with, but a national task that those who govern in Oslo also see.
"It is about creating growth, making people want to live and stay here, and developing Northern Norway's potential – in a region that has gained a new and increased security policy significance."
MFA Espen Barth Eide visited Nord University in Bodø, Northern Norway, on Monday witha.o. parliament member for Nordland, Øystein Mathisen (Labor), and the Rector of Nord University, Hanne Solheim (to the right). (Photo: Martin Steinholt).
New collaboration in the North
You mention the collaboration north in the Nordic region. Will the cooperation with Sweden and Finland in the North be granted more significance in the strategy?
"Yes, undoubtedly," he said and added:
"Two things are central. As a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the changed relationship with Russia, the Barents cooperation has changed. Previous opportunities [with Russia, ed.note] are not as relevant now and are not possible, such as within economic cooperation. However, the same war has also led to Swedish and Finnish accession to NATO."
"This has made us and our Nordic neighbors in the North integrated in terms of security policy. We can share information, think about defense planning in relation to infrastructure, new road axes, and other types of cooperation which we haven't been used to," he continued.
Having the entire Cap of the North within the same security policy community has also had consequences in areas beyond security policy, said Barth Eide.
"It has impacts on education, new business opportunities, and joint infrastructure construction, among other things. These are things that are being discussed," he concluded.