Saturday, December 7, 2024

Denmark takes over NORDEFCO chair and promises greater focus on the Arctic

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Eye of the North Pole by Iris Quinn

“The Baltic Sea region, the Arctic, and the North Atlantic will be particularly important geographic regions in 2024,” a ministry spokesperson told Eye on the Arctic in an email comment on Friday.

“The Danish Defense Intelligence Agency recently stated that the security environment in the Arctic is expected to become more unstable due to increased military activity, and that Russia and China may increase cooperation in the region. Given the position of the Kingdom of Denmark, it is natural that we focus on the development of the Arctic and North Atlantic regions. ”

Copenhagen emphasized its commitment to the less-conflicted north, but warned of the challenges Russia could present to the West, including, as one example, the ability to “interfere with Allied reinforcements and freedom of navigation in the North Atlantic” He pointed to NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept, which issues the following: On the importance of increasing attention to North Korea.

“As we face new and special challenges in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions, our goal is to maintain the region as a region of low tension,” a ministry spokesperson said.

“This is important for strategic communications and supplies, as well as capabilities and operational cooperation. That is why we are looking at strengthening our surveillance capabilities in the region. Cooperation and coordination will be key.”

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Armed forces continue to engage in joint operations

NORDEFCO is an alliance of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden that aims to cooperate on defense issues and develop the ability to operate better together. With Finland’s NATO membership and Sweden’s future membership, Copenhagen said NORDEFCO’s work is more important than ever.

“Building on the work undertaken by Sweden in 2023, NORDEFCO’s main mission in 2024 is to maintain close cooperation internally and with partners on security challenges, in particular Ukraine and continued support to Ukraine. “It is to be implemented based on recent decisions. The impact of NATO membership,” the ministry said.

“Among other priorities, the Danish Chair will maintain the momentum of ongoing work to enhance our ability to conduct and direct joint joint operations and to cooperate even more closely in the arms field.”


This article was published in Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.



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