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26 January 2011 By Rick Rozoff On January 19 and 20 British Prime Minister David
Cameron hosted his counterparts from Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
at the first Nordic Baltic Summit to consolidate an
"alliance of common interests." Cameron's initiative followed by two months a
two-day meeting of Nordic-Baltic defense ministers in
Norway with the defense chiefs of the same nine
nations that participated in the London gathering
along with defense representatives from Germany and
Poland. A Russian commentary on the day of the opening of
the Nordic Baltic Summit in the United Kingdom stated: "Europeans have decided to watch the Russians in
the Arctic and how they behave there closely. The idea
of creating an Arctic ‘mini-NATO' was discussed at the
[Nordic Baltic] Summit in London on Wednesday.
According to analysts, the heightened activity of
North Europe is explained by an increased interest in
the Arctic and its natural resources." In addition to economic and energy issues, "experts
insist that British Prime Minister David Cameron will
discuss with his counterparts a draft agreement on the
foundation of a new military alliance." The author of the piece argued that as part of a
Nordic-Baltic military structure stretching from the
Barents to the Norwegian to the North to the Baltic
Seas "a Scandinavian mini-NATO alliance has long been
hovering in the air." [1] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization subdivision
is to include Alliance members Denmark and Norway,
partners Finland and Sweden, and non-contiguous
outposts Greenland (Denmark), the Faroe Islands
(Denmark) and the Aland Islands (Finland). The project for a Nordic military pact, modeled
after and in the long run subordinated to NATO, was
taken up in earnest by former Norwegian defense and
foreign minister Thorvald Stoltenberg in 2009 and
"provides for the creation of a mini-NATO for
Scandinavia and the Arctic." [2] Stoltenberg's son
Jens is currently Norway's prime minister. The Stoltenberg report of 2009, whose formal name
is "Nordic Co-operation on foreign and security
policy," focused on "13 areas of potential closer
co-operation in the Nordic region, such as
peace-building, air-policing and maritime monitoring,
security in the High North, cyber-security,
co-operation between foreign services and defence."
[3] More specifically, it called for "creating a
military and civilian taskforce for unstable regions;
a joint amphibious unit; a disaster-response unit; a
coastguard-level maritime response force; joint cyber-defence
systems; joint air, maritime and satellite
surveillance; co-operation on Arctic governance; and a
war crimes investigation unit." [4] According to the EUobserver: "A Nato-style
‘musketeer' clause and closer consular co-operation
could form part of a new Nordic alliance,
foreshadowing future developments inside the EU." [5] The Stoltenberg report's recommendations served as
the foundation for discussions between the foreign
ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and
Sweden in Copenhagen last March which concentrated on
"joint monitoring of the Nordic marine areas, the
Nordic air space and the Arctic, as well as issues
relating to search and rescue services. "In addition, possible joint efforts against cyber
attacks and a possible further development of the
co-operation already established in the military area"
were topics taken up. [6] The five above-mentioned nations are to "sign a
joint statement on security policy in April next year
aimed at strengthening Nordic co-operation and joint
actions in cases of peace-time catastrophes as well as
military threats," [7] following discussion of the
subject at a meeting of the Nordic Council in Iceland
last November. At the latter event Norwegian Foreign
Minister Jonas Store stated: "Increased cooperation in
Nordic and Baltic defense is an important step in the
right direction. It's now time to formalize this
cooperation further and confirm Nordic unity in
defense." [8] A week later the meeting of the defense ministers
of Britain, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania met in Oslo. British
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said at the event: "The
deepening of our bilateral and multilateral
relationships with partners in the Nordic region is
well worth exploring. We would like to create a
broader framework that makes it easier for both NATO
and non-NATO members to have a closer relationship in
the region." [9] Eleven months before Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden formalized a
mechanism for collective military collaboration, the
Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO) agreement. At the same defense chiefs gathering where the nine
nations "discussed how they could cooperate more
closely regarding security challenges in the High
North" and "closer cooperation between the Nordic
countries' forces in Afghanistan," Norwegian Defense
Minister Grete Faremo stated: "I think we should work together more closely in
areas such as operational capabilities, education and
training/exercising. Norway would welcome more allied
units to take part in exercises set in our demanding
natural environment. "We have already achieved good results through such
measures as common transport and logistics solutions
for our forces in Afghanistan. In addition we have a
series of projects in the fields of education,
training and defence equipment collaboration." "We must continue to cooperate within UN, NATO and
EU operations," she added in conclusion. [10] The Russian analysis cited earlier concluded by
stating: "The organizers make no secret that the idea
of a Scandinavian mini-NATO alliance is a response to
Russia's efforts to survey and develop the Arctic
shelf. According to experts, about 25 percent of the
world's oil and gas resources are in the Arctic shelf,
besides other natural resources." [11] On the day after the London Nordic-Baltic Summit
ended, another article in the Russian press stated: "The United Kingdom is no doubt one of NATO's
strongest members and would be the largest power in
any Nordic NATO. It has long been interested in these
northern areas and, because of its traditionally rocky
relations with Russia, would be likely to back the
initiative. "Nor is the Baltic republics' involvement
surprising: their political elites tend to be keen to
support any anti-Russian initiative. In this
particular case, there was no attempt to hide it –
Thorvald Stoltenberg said outright that the idea was a
direct response to Russian efforts. "The political picture might…change if Sweden and
Finland, two neutral countries, were to join the
alliance." [12] Speaking before the House of Commons the day before
the Nordic-Baltic defense ministers meeting in Norway
last November, British Defence Secretary Fox said: "I shall point out our commitment to the submarine
programme and to the aircraft carrier programme, and
explain how we intend to ensure that across the range
of capabilities the United Kingdom is a sound and
secure NATO partner. The purpose of the meeting in
Norway is to ensure that we deepen our bilateral
relationship with Norway, that we create a NATO entity
that Finland and Sweden feel a little more comfortable
with, that we give further security to article 5 in
the Baltic states by being a nuclear power as part of
that grouping, and that as a NATO grouping we are
better able to deal with regional disputes with
Russia." [13] On August 1 2009 Norway shifted its Operational
Command Headquarters from Stavanger to Reitan in the
north, becoming the first nation to locate its
military leadership structure in the Arctic. The Russian writers quoted above expressed
scepticism regarding the prospects for a NATO regional
command in the Arctic and Baltic regions, but that
project is not solely a British-Norwegian enterprise. It is part of a broader strategy for the Arctic
Ocean and the seas south of it. Two years ago Washington released the National
Security Presidential Directive 66 which stated in
part: "The United States has broad and fundamental
national security interests in the Arctic region and
is prepared to operate either independently or in
conjunction with other states to safeguard these
interests. These interests include such matters as
missile defense and early warning; deployment of sea
and air systems for strategic sealift, strategic
deterrence, maritime presence, and maritime security
operations; and ensuring freedom of navigation and
overflight." Later in January of 2009 NATO conducted what it
called a Seminar on Security Prospects in the High
North in the capital of Iceland which was attended by
among others the military bloc's secretary general,
the chairman of its Military Committee and its Supreme
Allied Commander Europe and Supreme Allied Commander
Transformation. [14] Last August the U.S. and Denmark participated for
the first time in Canada's annual Operation Nanook
military exercise in the Arctic, although both fellow
NATO members are involved in territorial disputes with
Canada in the region. [15] NATO has intensified its campaign to recruit
Finland and Sweden into its ranks in recent years.
Both nations supply troops for the Alliance's
International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan, where Finland has suffered its first
combat deaths since World War Two and Sweden in two
centuries. [16] Two years ago NATO held ten-day military exercises
in Sweden, codenamed Loyal Arrow 2009, with the
involvement of ten countries, 2,000 troops, an
aircraft carrier and 50 jet fighters. [17] Last year's BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) exercise
conducted with U.S., NATO and NATO partnership nations
was held in Estonia and Latvia with over 3,000 troops
and military hardware – including 36 ships and two
submarines – from ten nations, among them Finland and
Sweden. Finland and Sweden are the only non-NATO nations
(they are Partnership for Peace members) to have
joined Alliance states Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary,
Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania,
Slovenia and the U.S. in running the first
multinational strategic airlift operation, the Heavy
Airlift Wing at the Papa Air Base in Hungary used for
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last September 50 warships and 4,000 navy personnel
from the U.S., Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden,
Britain, France and Germany participated in the
two-week Northern Coasts military exercise in and off
Finland's coast, the largest war games ever staged in
Finnish territorial waters. Three months earlier the Finnish government
presented a proposal to parliament to participate in
the 25,000-troop, globally deployable NATO Response
Force. In the same month, June, Finnish Foreign Minister
Alexander Stubb advocated a multinational deployment
to the former Soviet Central Asian republic of
Kyrgyzstan. "The Nordic and Baltic countries are proposing a
civilian rapid-reaction force be sent to southern
Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic violence has left well over
100 people dead. Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander
Stubb proposed the mission at [the June 14th] meeting
of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg." Stubb
"compared the situation to that in Georgia in August
2008, when an international police mission was sent."
[18] The first target of a NATO-EU Nordic-Baltic
(inclusive of Poland) military intervention is likely
to be Belarus. In November Finnish President Tarja Halonen,
Defense Minister Jyri Häkämies and Foreign Minister
Stubb attended the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal for
strategy talks on the Afghan war. Much the same situation obtains in Sweden [19],
whose parliament last month extended the nation's
military deployment in Afghanistan and raised the
troop ceiling from 500 to 855. In fact what Al Burke at his Stop the Furtive
Accession to NATO website [20] has assiduously argued
and struggled against for years, the surreptitious
accession of Sweden to NATO, has been proceeding
steadily. A recent survey showed support for NATO
membership more than doubling from 17 percent in 2005
to 35 percent in 2009. [21] Last month Swedish Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors
stated that "capital investments in defense will
prioritize weapon procurement and infrastructure
improvements to strengthen the military's air and
naval capability in the High North." He added that "Sweden intends to maintain 100
Gripen C/D combat and reconnaissance aircraft, a
capability that is at least twice as large as its
Nordic neighbors Finland, Norway and
Denmark….Investments also are planned to strengthen
Sweden's conventional submarine fleet in 2011-2014 to
ensure security in the High North." [22] The ongoing
program to modernize the country's submarine fleet
alone will cost $1.6 billion. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt stated at the
Nordic Council meeting last November that "better
Nordic-Baltic cooperation will strengthen the region's
position within the European Union and globally, and
facilitate joint participation in peacekeeping." In his own words: "This region of Europe has
everything to gain from a closer cooperation in
defense between the Nordic countries and its Baltic
neighbors. There are real issues, such as Arctic
security, where such a cooperation will be
advantageous." [23] The meeting also endorsed all its eight members
(Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland,
the Faroe Islands and the Aland Islands) joining the
European Union Nordic Battle Group this year. The
Nordic Battle Group currently consists of 1,600 troops
from Sweden, 250 from Finland, 150 from Ireland and
100 from both Estonia and Norway. The last-named is
not a member of the EU but is a NATO member state. The Nordic contingent is one of 18 EU battlegroups
which achieved full operational capacity on January 1,
2007 and are linked to NATO through the 1999 Berlin
Plus agreement, "a comprehensive package of agreements
between NATO and EU" which includes the provision of
"NATO assets and capabilities" for EU missions. [24] The Nordic Battle Group, which is "on stand-by for
six months for deployment at five days' notice to
trouble spots around the world," [25] has its
headquarters in Sweden. Last month the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania met to "discuss defence cooperation
among the Baltic States and relevant issues of NATO
and regional cooperation with the Nordic countries."
They also deliberated over "developing joint air
forces, special operations forces and energy security
projects" and "the need to continue to develop and
strengthen cooperation with the Nordic countries." "The ministers discussed the possibilities of
improving conditions for the NATO contingents in the
Baltic air space to ensure that this mission would
involve more and more NATO countries." [26] The
reference is to the seven-year-old NATO Baltic Air
Policing mission, subsumed under NATO Quick Reaction
Alert and until the first of the year composed of U.S.
F-15C Eagle fighters. This month several high-level NATO officials
travelled to Lithuania for the opening of a new Energy
Security Centre in the capital. The facility, which
"will contribute to international initiatives with a
special emphasis on cooperation with NATO," is to
graduate to the level of a NATO Centre of Excellence
like the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of
Excellence established in nearby Estonia in 2008. [27] The Baltic-Scandinavian region, especially the
Arctic at its northernmost extreme, is the last spot
on Earth where alleged threats from Iran, North Korea,
al-Qaeda and pirates can be evoked to justify
unprecedented military expansion and integration. That
the latter is occurring at a breakneck pace belies
NATO's and the EU's claims concerning the rationale
for collaborating with the world's sole military
superpower both at home and throughout the world. 1) Ananyan Artyom, "Mini-NATO" – Dream in Polar
fog http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/../40383377.html 2) Ibid http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/../40383377.html 12) Ilya Kramnik, Northern NATO: Tracking polar
bears and Russians? http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20110121/162238403.html 13) House of Commons, November 8, 2010 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101108/debtext/101108-0001.htm 14) NATO's, Pentagon's New Strategic
Battleground: The Arctic http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/../natos-pentagons-new-strategic-battleground-the-arctic 15) Canada Opens Arctic To NATO, Plans Massive
Weapons Buildup http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/../canada-opens-arctic-to-nato-plans-massive-weapons-buildup 16) Afghan War: NATO Trains Finland, Sweden For
Conflict With Russia http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/../afghan-war-nato-trains-finland-sweden-for-conflict-with-russia 17) Scandinavia And The Baltic Sea: NATO's War
Plans For The High North http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/../scandinavia-and-the-baltic-sea-natos-war-plans-for-the-high-north 18) Finnish Broadcasting Company, June 14, 2010 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/../2380 20) Stop the Furtive Accession to NATO http://www.stoppanato.se/english/guides.htm …. http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/../end-of-scandinavian-neutrality-natos-militarization-of-europe 21) NATO'S ‘Open Door' http://www.nato.int/shape/news/2003/shape_eu/se030822a.htm 25) RTE News, September 14, 2010 |
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