NORWAY: Iceland Protection and Arctic Security [13 February 2009]

Summary: Norway´s former defense and foreign minister has released a report on Nordic Foreign and security policy cooperation which includes proposals for some drastic changes in Scandinavian military and cooperation policies.

Development: Thorvald Stoltenberg, Norway´s former defense and foreign minister released a report on Nordic Foreign and Security Policy Cooperation. The Report which Stoltenberg worked on with 10 Scandinavian experts was released in a meeting with all the Nordic foreign ministers on Monday February 9^th.  The report puts forth thirteen proposals, including a Scandinavian Stabilization Task Force, Nordic cooperation on surveillance of Icelandic air space, several proposals for common Scandinavian security policies on Arctic and regional defense matters, and a Scandinavian Stabilization Task Force to contribute to UN and NATO peacekeeping missions, and to provide a united approach to third world conflicts and development challenges.

Analysis: Stoltenberg is a heavyweight on Scandinavian defense issues and this report was done on the request of Nordic foreign ministers. The key proposals are those that would create a united approach to Arctic security measures, as well as the formation of a multilateral force to defend against Russian force projection within the Nordic region. Included is a surveillance proposal for Icelandic air space using military facilities abandoned by the US military.  This would be a major step in bringing Iceland—which does not have a military—under the protection of the other Scandinavian countries.  Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and, to a lesser degree Denmark, are increasingly alarmed by the Russian military buildup in the North and aggressive moves, including flying bombers through their airspace and sailing warships through Scandinavian waters without proper consent.  Two days after the US pulled out of Iceland in 2006, Moscow sent long range bombers to fly in circles around Iceland, a clear message that, while Washington may no longer value Iceland as a strategic asset, Moscow surely does.  In the longer term, as the Nordic countries are aware, the Arctic region is becoming increasingly important in geopolitical terms.  This is a result of the location of the Nordic seas as a production and transit area for gas for European markets and climate changes in the Arctic that will finally open the northwest passage as the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe. 

[Tryggvi Hjaltason]