Norway Divides Responsibility for the High North Policy Between Two Ministries

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The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (KDD) will now have a domestic policy coordination responsibility in the High North policy. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) will focus more on the international aspects of the policy area.

A central backdrop is that the geopolitical development in the north requires greater efforts from the MFA to protect international cooperation.

"The development in the north requires good domestic and foreign policy cooperation. The MFA and the KDD are already cooperating closely and well on the High North policy. Major climate and environment changes and a deteriorated security policy situation after Russia's full-scale invasion of *Ukraine also affect our High North areas to a large degree. This means we must strengthen the broad High North efforts in the KDD and the MFA," says Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt (Labor).

Seniorforsker Andreas Østhagen ved Fridtjof Nansens Institutt. (Foto: FNI).

This division of labor is appropriate – and it is high time it is introduced, believes Senior Researcher Andreas Østhagen at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute.

"As the High North policy has grown in scope and subject area, it has likely become impossible for the MFA to bear the full coordination responsibility. At the same time, as they state, the geopolitical challenges in the north lead to even more MFA resources being used to handle foreign policy challenges. That the KDD is given more responsibility and ownership to the policy makes sense both regarding the use of resources – and to see the High North policy in connection with local and regional development in the north," writes Østhagen to High North News.

Envoy to Tromsø

As indicated, the MFA has until now had the coordination responsibility for this and previous governments' High North policy – alternately defined as Norway's most important strategic area of investment, responsibility, or interest. 

Currently, the most central aspect of the government's High North ventures is the Norwegian chairship of the Arctic Council, which was handed over by Russia in May.

As part of this initiative, the MFA has appointed a staff member in Tromsø, who will be attached to the council's international secretariat at the Fram Center.

The person is responsible for strengthening Norway's leadership work in the council and following up the High North policy as a link for better communication between actors in the north and Oslo.

Regional overview

As a sort of forewarning of the new division of responsibility between the two departments, the responsibility for the Norwegian Barents Secretariat was transferred from the MFA to the KDD in June.

"We believe these measures will contribute to streamlining and strengthening the work with the government's High North policy. The KDD already has coordination responsibility for the regional and district policy, regional cooperation over national borders in the north, and the government's efforts in Northern Norway. We are now given new opportunities to see possibilities within the domestic dimension of the High North policy in closer connection with these areas of responsibility," says the Norwegian Minister of Local Government and Regional Development (Center). 

"That the KDD is given more responsibility for the Barents cooperation will perhaps contribute to a greater prioritization of this, or at least increased support, from a national level. The counties have always operated the regional dimension at the Barents cooperation, and the regional level is in closer contact with the KDD than the MFA," Østhagen points out.