Tuesday Norway announced its agenda for the upcoming Norwegian chairship of the Arctic Council, divided into four main themes:
Sea, climate and environment, sustainable economic development, and people in the north.
Norway is set to assume leadership from Russia on May 11 and there is a great deal of anticipation attached to the transition from a locked out Russia. The Swedish and Danish Arctic Ambassadors and Senior Arctic Officials, Louise Calais and Thomas Winkler, are happy with Norways choice and tell High North News that it is time to turn the focus back on enviromental issues.
”These are topics we can agree on and which has been on the Arctic agenda for a long time, and which we fully support. For the Kingdom of Denmark, the focus on the sea and the environment is very important”, says Thomas Winkler as HNN meets him and his Swedish colleague in Anchorage, Alaska, during the Arctic Encounter conference. […]
“The focus has been on military threats, but we have to zoom out. We do not have a war or a race for recourses in the Arctic, what we are seeing is the relationship between Russia and the West being played out in the Arctic”, says Louise Calais.
She says that the situation has had the Arctic Council very concerned, as the council found itself in a very good place before the war when Iceland transferred the chairship to Russia. Läs artikel