Newsletter: Farewell 2020 - Welcome 2021!
We welcome 2021 and wish for all a peacful and joyful holiday. (Photo: Alex Prykhodko/Adobe).
Dear High North News reader, we finish the year with our final newsletter, characterized by a will to invest in the North and by strong security policy signals from both the USA and the Nordics.
There is a lot going on in Svalbard these days. This week, we could tell you about alleged Chinese and Russian interest in coalmining rights just outside Longyearbyen.
Also, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has established the framework for a temporary grant scheme for the tourist industry in Svalbard.
While a little further south, on the mainland, the Center for High North Logistics has received NOK 7 million to research and development of Arctic maritime logistics and transport solutions in the Barents region.
Towards year-end, we can inform you that the new Arctic Security Studies Center, approved by the U.S. Congress last week, will be the first regional DoD center in the Arctic.
The U.S. Congress is also upgrading the Coast Guard’s capabilities in the Arctic.
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that Denmark wants to improve surveillance capacity in its Arctic waters and does so by deploying frigates there.
While in Norway, security politics in the High North has stirred a rather heated debate:
“Norway’s deterrence and defense capacity is inextricably linked to our NATO membership, in which the USA constitutes the biggest military capacity”, says MP Hårek Elvenes (Conservatives).
And finally; Corona news can also be good news!
We at High North News wish you and your loved ones a peaceful Christmas, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2021!
Trine Jonassen,
News Editor, High North News