Finland's President Stubb Plans Arctic Security Strategy Ahead of NATO Summit

Arctic Security Strategy and NATO Cooperation

By Dave Graham

Role of Scandinavian Countries

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Thursday he wants a plan to bolster Arctic security to be ready by a NATO summit in July after the United States announced a framework deal to de-escalate a row over Greenland's future.

Implications of U.S. Access to Greenland

Earlier, President Donald Trump said he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in an accord with NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.

EU Leaders' Stance on Greenland

The deal came as Trump dropped threats to impose tariffs on eight European allies for their stance on Greenland and ruled out taking the vast, mineral-rich island by force.

Stubb said he wanted a package of measures to be put together to boost Arctic security that would be "not dissimilar" to a deal agreed in The Hague last June, when NATO leaders backed a big rise in defence spending, as demanded by Trump.

SCANDINAVIAN MEMBERS KEY TO PLAN

"In an ideal world, we would have something ready by the NATO summit in Ankara," Stubb told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Stubb said that a more robust Arctic security architecture should draw on closer cooperation between NATO's five Scandinavian members - Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland - plus the United States and Canada.

The armed forces of Finland itself were trained to operate in the region, he added.

"We have one million women and men who've done their military service in Arctic conditions," said Stubb, who many diplomats and political analysts regard as one of the European leaders most adept at building bridges with Trump.

Trump's threat last weekend to impose tariffs on European countries that opposed his ambition to acquire Greenland has rattled European capitals, and EU leaders are meeting in Brussels later on Thursday for talks on the issue.

Stubb said he was confident that the EU leaders would maintain a united front on Greenland, and he underlined that it was especially important for the views of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to be heard.

Greenland is an autonomous region of the kingdom of Denmark.

Trump has argued only the U.S. can ensure Greenland's security in the face of what he says are Chinese and Russian ambitions in the Arctic. But his approach has threatened to blow apart the NATO alliance and reignite a trade war with Europe.

Stubb, who extolled the role of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in finding common ground with Trump over Greenland, said he was optimistic about the future of the alliance.

"I think it's completely justified for President Trump to ask Europeans to do more about their defence, and also to pay more for the alliance and have more capability," he said. "So the stronger NATO is, the better off we are."

(Reporting by Dave Graham;Editing by Alison Williams, Gareth Jones and Andrew Heavens)