The Arctic Century

Since the 1990s, the European Union has focused on 'soft' security: environment protection, negative impact of climate change, shipping risks, etc. After the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, the focus of the EU's Arctic policy began to shift towards 'hard' security. The desire to reduce dependence on the United States for defense also contributed to this trend. At the same time relative 'strategic autonomy' doesn't mean abandoning close cooperation with NATO. Shift to 'hard' power was additionally supported by joining of traditionally neutral Sweden and Finland to the alliance.

Improvements have been made when it comes to the issue of human rights. The Institute for Human Rights acknowledges this in their annual report, which they submitted to the Greenlandic Parliament last week.

The Canadian Senate rejected an amendment that would have criminalized denial of the residential-school genocide against First Nations children. The North Observer argues the vote lays bare the spiritual kinship between Canada's ruling class and the racism and Nazism it once sheltered.

In July 1941 British carrier aircraft struck the German-occupied Norwegian port of Kirkenes and the Finnish port of Liinahamari in Petsamo. The militarily ineffective raid cost the Fleet Air Arm dearly and gave Finland a pretext to break off relations with Britain.

Donald Trump's belligerent stance has prompted Canada to ramp up military spending and seek better Arctic surveillance, with Quebec-built robots tested at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut against -41°C cold and GPS interference from the Northern Lights.

Denmark will invest in housing and infrastructure to develop Greenlandic society, even though responsibility for housing was handed over to Greenland in 1987. Much of the self-government's rental stock is badly worn and will cost billions to renovate.

Norway's Office of the Auditor General warns that municipalities are far from ready for a rapid increase in the number of elderly residents, citing recruitment shortfalls and a lack of planning that could have serious consequences for the entire health and care sector.

The forum's first panel turned to a pressing question: with the old Western channels frozen, who does Russia work with in the Arctic, and on what terms? Scholars from Russia, India, and Italy weighed BRICS, the Northern Sea Route, rare-earth metals, the Eurasian Union, and the future of Arctic LNG.