European Council President António Costa said Arctic security should be treated as European security after attending the first European Arctic Summit in Rovaniemi, Finland, on Monday.
Costa thanked Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo for convening the meeting in Lapland, and said the Arctic was strategically important for Europe as a whole, according to his remarks at the post-summit press conference.
He said the EU’s role in the region was clear because three member states — Denmark, Finland and Sweden — are Arctic nations.
The EU’s Arctic strategy, set in 2021, remains based on climate protection, sustainable development and peaceful cooperation, he stated.
However, he added that the approach to Arctic security needed to adapt to what he called a new geopolitical reality.
Budget, security and an updated Arctic strategy
Sovereignty and territorial integrity could no longer be taken for granted, and principles of international law such as freedom of navigation were being challenged, Costa said.
He described Russia, the largest Arctic nation, as a main driver of that trend.
The EU would remain a “reliable, long-term partner” to Arctic allies inside and outside Europe, and he backed coordinated action with partners stretching from the Baltic through the Arctic and North Atlantic.
He said the new geopolitical situation would be reflected in the EU’s next long-term budget, including increased investment in Europe’s security and defence, including in the Arctic.
Costa also declared that the European Commission and the European External Action Service — the EU’s diplomatic service — were updating the EU’s Arctic Strategy.
Costa said climate change remained a major threat to the region, and he referred to economic opportunities linked to “critical raw materials”, a term used for minerals and metals considered vital for industry and vulnerable to supply risks.
He stated that the EU’s focus in the Arctic should benefit the people living in the region, and that the issue would return for discussion at a future meeting of the European Council.
