The European Union reveals a "new strategy" to strengthen its influence in the Arctic

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed on Tuesday the need for Europe to develop its “strategic approach” in the Arctic in order to better confront the threats in this region that Russia, the United States and China are competing with.

Von der Leyen presented to the European Parliament in Strasbourg the new European Union strategy for the Arctic region, and pointed to the threat posed by Russia, which is strengthening its “military presence” in the region.

Von der Leyen stressed that "sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the rules that ensured the stability of this region can no longer be taken for granted."

On Tuesday, the European Union revealed its comprehensive strategy for the Arctic, nine months after US President Donald Trump's threats regarding Greenland, noting that his name was not mentioned even once in the document.

Through its new strategy, the European Union intends to strengthen the European fleet of icebreakers, which are essential ships for sailing along routes of increasing strategic importance, strengthen the surveillance system to improve monitoring of Shadow Fleet ships, and link Europe to Japan in the long term via a submarine communications cable that passes through Greenland and Canada, without mentioning the United States, but the document does not stipulate any additional funding.

Von der Leyen announced the allocation of 200 million euros to Greenland during her visit to the autonomous Danish region in early September.

Greenland intends to use the new European funds to contribute to projects such as improving Internet access.

Brussels, for its part, hopes to take advantage of this to diversify Europe's sources of supplies of vital raw materials, which until now have relied largely on China.

The European strategy also recommended strengthening cooperation with countries that are not members of the Union and share the same goals, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Norway.

Europe also proposed organizing a periodic summit bringing together the “Northern Neighborhood” partners.

The United States is listed among the countries that may participate. As for the rest of the document, the absence of the United States was evident during the era of Donald Trump, after it was a major ally in the region for a long time. The Arctic also constitutes a main focus of the European Union’s environmental concerns.

According to experts, the region's temperature is rising at a rate nearly four times the global average due to climate change, which has serious repercussions on ecosystems and local populations.

Brussels stresses the need to invest in renewable energy in the region.