NATO’s fear of Russia’s high military power in the Arctic

According to the report of Fars International News Agency, NATO Secretary General welcomed Canada’s investment in defense systems in North America and said; Russia’s capabilities are a strategic challenge for NATO in the Arctic.

According to the Saturday edition of the newspaperAsharq al-AwsatNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who traveled to Canada on Friday, said: “The importance of the Arctic for NATO and Canada is increasing as we see a significant increase in Russian military presence.”

Stoltenberg said Russia has reopened hundreds of Soviet-era military bases in the Arctic and is using the region to test new weapons systems. He also warned that Russia and China are creating a strategic partnership in the Arctic that challenges the interests of NATO.

According to the report, Canada has been criticized for underspending on its military capabilities as a NATO member, but after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Canada announced it would spend $3.8 billion over the next six years to modernize it. The United States and Canada will invest in the North American Joint Defense Structure (NORAD).

According to this report, Trudeau and Stoltenberg visited Cambridge Bay in the Arctic, where an air defense radar base is located. This is part of Norad’s warning system, which, according to experts, is in dire need of improvement. This system, which is more than six decades old, detects security threats in North America, and its early warning radar dates back to the late 1980s.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Russian Foreign Ministry recently said that the Arctic region is becoming a scene of international military operations, and this process is “very worrying”.

Nikolai Kurchunov, Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and head of the “Senior Committee of the Russian Arctic Council” said: “We see how international military movements in this region are increasing. There is a possibility of internationalization of military movements. Of course, this is a very worrisome trend, and turning the Arctic region into the scene of international military operations is worrisome.”

Regarding the issue of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, he said: “The traditional policy of Finland and Sweden, the policy of non-alignment with military alliances, has long been a solid foundation for maintaining peace and stability, and potentially, it is unlikely that these countries will join NATO contribute to this goal.”

Russia has repeatedly objected to holding exercises in the North Pole. Not long ago, the large international exercise “Cold Response” began in Norway and lasted for two weeks. The foreign ministry said the exercises were the largest exercises led by Norway since the 1980s. About 30,000 troops from 27 countries, including Finland and Sweden, which are NATO partner countries, participated in this exercise.

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