{"id":464879,"date":"2026-09-14T16:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/09\/14\/artico-dodici-stati-chiedono-allue-di-giocare-un-ruolo-piu-strategico-e-proattivo\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T17:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:35:33","slug":"arctic-twelve-states-call-on-the-eu-to-play-a-more-strategic-and-proactive-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/09\/14\/arctic-twelve-states-call-on-the-eu-to-play-a-more-strategic-and-proactive-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic: twelve states call on the EU to play \u201ca more strategic and proactive role\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 The European Union must have a stronger presence in the European Arctic. This call has been made by 12 EU Member States (Finland, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Sweden) in a joint statement<\/a> published on the occasion of the European Arctic Summit currently taking place in Rovaniemi, Finland. \u201cWe call on the European Union to take on a more strategic and proactive role in the European Arctic,<\/strong> and we are committed to strengthening the Union\u2019s engagement in the Arctic in a coherent and forward-looking manner, with adequate resources and in line with the changing geopolitical realities. We agree on the need for the EU to step up its efforts to promote stability, sustainable development, and prosperity, while safeguarding its interests,\u201d the declaration states. <\/p>\n

The signatory countries look forward \u201cwith interest to the forthcoming joint communication from the European Commission and the High Representative on a resilient, secure, and peaceful Arctic,\u201d due by the end of October. Above all, however, they emphasise that \u201cthe Arctic is undergoing rapid and profound transformation, with growing implications for Europe\u2019s security and stability<\/strong>\u201d and that \u201cthe intensifying competition between major powers, the consequences of Russia\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine, China\u2019s growing interest in security policies, and the serious and accelerating impacts of climate change are reshaping the region\u2019s strategic landscape.\u201d In particular, \u201cwe note with grave concern the significant and long-term threat that Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cRussia\u2019s ambitions to increase its influence in the Arctic, combined with its hostility towards Europe\u2014including the rise in hybrid activities\u2014highlight the need to strengthen the EU\u2019s Arctic policy.\u201d <\/p>\n

This point was also highlighted by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas<\/strong>. \u201cWe note that Russia is reactivating Soviet-era military bases and conducting missile exercises in the far north. We are also seeing growing interest from China in the region; we must therefore remain vigilant,\u201d she said upon arriving at the summit. She added that the EU\u2019s new Arctic strategy would be \u201ccentred on security, as the Arctic is clearly an integral part of the European security architecture\u201d and \u201cwill, of course, also include concrete projects.\u201d <\/p>\n

The point that the signatory countries wish to emphasise is the view of the Arctic as a European issue, concerning all 27 Member States. \u201cWe emphasise that the European Arctic regions are an integral part of the European Union<\/p>\n

\u201cencompassing both land and maritime territories and including a long external EU border with Russia,\u201d they write, adding that \u201csecurity in the Arctic must be achieved collectively.<\/strong>\u201d The northern front must be viewed in the same light as the eastern border or the Mediterranean. Therefore, in addition to the \u201cneed to increase investment in military mobility, cross-border connectivity, and the necessary infrastructure in the EU\u2019s northernmost regions,\u201d according to the twelve countries, \u201caddressing critical and urgent needs\u2014such as transport links, digital connectivity and satellite technologies and services\u2014and strengthening Member States\u2019 capacity to address hybrid threats is fundamental to European security and defence, including along the eastern flank.\u201d <\/p>\n

A concept embraced by the President of the European Council, Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/strong>. \u201cWhat matters for the Arctic matters for all Member States of the European Union\u201d and \u201cwhat happens here is not a regional issue, but a European one. This means that Arctic security is European security,\u201d he went on to explain. Therefore, \u201cwhen we talk about security in the Arctic, we must adapt to the new geopolitical reality,\u201d not least because the region<\/strong> \u201cis<\/strong>, in fact, another victim of the weakening of the multilateral system<\/strong>\u201d and \u201csovereignty and respect for territorial integrity can no longer be taken for granted, and fundamental concepts of international law, such as freedom of navigation, are being called into question.\u201d A situation in which \u201cRussia, the largest Arctic nation, is one of the main architects.\u201d Costa supports the objective \u201cof promoting coordinated action\u201d and of \u201ccreating a network of partners stretching from the Baltic, through the Arctic and the North Atlantic, to ensure a comprehensive, rules-based approach to security and defence in the Arctic region.\u201d The next step is the EU\u2019s multiannual financial framework covering the period 2028\u20132034, in which \u201cthis new geopolitical reality will be reflected,\u201d with a \u201cconsequent increase in investment in Europe\u2019s security and defence, including the Arctic region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a joint statement, the governments emphasise that the northern region \u201cis undergoing a rapid and profound transformation, with growing implications for the security and stability of Europe as a whole\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7874,"featured_media":464869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30809,25681],"tags":[30168,25916,30204,31927,34031,25803,25745,33819,33394],"class_list":["post-464879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence-security","category-politics","tag-arctic-en","tag-cina-en","tag-coast-en","tag-dichiarazione-congiunta-en","tag-kallas","tag-russia-in-2","tag-safety-en","tag-strategia","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7874"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464880,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464879\/revisions\/464880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}