Arctic Council under pressure as Norway readies for Russian handoff
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[March 28, 2023]
By Gwladys Fouche and Gloria Dickie
OSLO/LONDON (Reuters) - Norway said it will prioritise a smooth
transition with Russia as it plans to assume the chair of the
Moscow-helmed Arctic Council on May 11, but will not commit to
restarting stalled cooperation given the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Arctic Council was created in 1996 to discuss issues affecting the
polar region, ranging from pollution to local economic development to
search-and-rescue missions.
Norway announced its priorities on Tuesday, noting it would focus its
work as chair on climate change, the oceans, sustainable economic
development and the peoples of the Arctic.
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The Arctic Council comprises the eight Arctic states of Russia, the
United States, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark.
Other nations, including China and India, are official observers to the
council's activities.
At the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year,
Russia was halfway through its two-year chairmanship of the council
which rotates between members.
This led the other seven Arctic nations to soon pause cooperation with
Moscow, putting about a third of the Council's 130 projects on hold
because they had direct Russian involvement. Russia called the action
"regrettable".
Russia's possible degree of involvement with the Council once Norway
takes over is still unclear. For now, the focus is squarely on attaining
a seamless shift from Russia to Norway.
"We want an orderly transition," Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister
Eivind Vad Petersson told Reuters, adding, "Norway is in contact with
Russia to prepare the transition."
"At the same time, it is out of the question to have senior political
officials going to a ministerial event in Russia and we have
communicated that clearly to Russia."
Asked whether the pause would continue under Norway's chairmanship,
Petersson said: "We will not be able to communicate on the future work
of the council until we have taken up the chairship role."
DIPLOMACY ON ICE
A trouble-free transition of the chairmanship is not yet guaranteed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier extended an
invitation to Arctic officials to attend a transition ceremony in
Salekhard, Siberia.
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The Wahlenberg Glacier is seen in Oscar
II land at Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway, August 5, 2019.
REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Instead, Norway said the transition event will take place digitally
and will be limited to the level of civil servants, not political
leaders.
Russian Arctic Ambassador Nikolay Korchunov, chair of the Senior
Arctic Officials on the council, told Reuters the transition would
"presuppose active and responsible participation of all Arctic
Council member states in this preparatory process."
Norway's foreign ministry declined to comment on Korchunov's
statement.
During the pause, Russia has instead focused on domestic events,
including a conference in Murmansk regarding the removal of
radioactive waste from the Arctic Ocean, Korchunov said.
He said that because Norway was one of the countries that had
decided to put cooperation on hold, "this creates uncertainty about
the eventual future of the Norwegian chairmanship and what approach
it will follow with regard to Arctic Council activities."
Still, political experts emphasized to Reuters that it was "lucky"
Norway was next in line to take over the chairmanship.
"No other country who is a member of the Arctic Council has had more
day-to-day experience of working with Russia," said Klaus Dodds, a
professor of geopolitics at Britain's Royal Holloway University.
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Rebecca Pincus, director of the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, a
U.S. think tank, noted "there would be a level of awkwardness if the
chairmanship was transitioning to the U.S., or Finland or Sweden who
are poised to join NATO."
A U.S. State Department official told Reuters they are "focused on
the work on the transition of the chairmanship right now" and that
"this may be the only area where we've been interacting with them
(the Russians)."
An escalation of rhetoric or an unforeseen incident between Russia
and the West during the next month could jeopardize the transition,
Pincus said.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Gloria Dickie in London;
Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, David Stanway
in Singapore and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; Editing by
Matthew Lewis)
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