OSLO | NATO cannot afford to allow a “security vacuum” to settle in the Arctic, the subject of “growing strategic competition” with Russia, but also China, said its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Friday. .
• Read also: Russia’s richest man invests in Canadian uranium, key to nuclear weapons
• Read also: A weapon to shoot down Russian planes in the Arctic
• Read also: Defense of the Arctic: NATO sends 30,000 soldiers for an exercise, Canada provides… 10 soldiers
“We cannot afford a security vacuum in the Far North. This could fuel Russian ambitions, expose NATO and raise the risk of misunderstandings,” Stoltenberg said during a visit to the Bardufoss base in northern Norway, where major military exercises are currently taking place. .
At a press conference, the Norwegian official, whose mandate has just been extended for a year due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, noted that Russia has increased its military activities in the region in recent years. last years.
Moscow has modernized its old bases and built new ones in the Arctic, openly displaying its desire to be a dominant player there.
Across the border with Norway, Russia’s Kola Peninsula is home to the mighty Northern Fleet, a huge concentration of nuclear weapons, and countless military installations.
“We are also seeing growing Chinese interest in the region. China has defined itself as a state in the Near Arctic and aims to establish a presence here,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “For all these reasons, the High North is a region of critical importance to all Allies. That is why NATO has increased its military presence in the north,” he said.
The Cold Response exercise, one of the largest that Norway has organized since the end of the Cold War, currently brings together some 30,000 soldiers from 25 NATO countries, but also from Sweden and Finland, two close partners. of the Alliance.
Planned for a long time, the maneuvers aim to test the ability of the allies to defend one of their own in the event of an attack, in extreme cold in a difficult environment.
“Cold Response is an important exercise, especially in light of Russia’s senseless attack on Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
He said he regretted that Russia had declined the offer to send observers there.
“But we regret even more that Russia never invites us to participate in mandatory observation and inspection of its exercises,” he added.
The Russian military deployment that preceded the invasion of Ukraine, he recalled, had first been “disguised as an exercise” before “suddenly” becoming “a war in its own right”.