Under the pretext of extraction of minerals from great depths, Norway wants to create a network of stronghold islands in the interests of NATO.
Scandinavian media reported a couple of days ago: the Norwegian government plans to start mining copper, cobalt, rare-earth metals near the Spitsbergen archipelago at a depth of up to 4 km (!). The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy will submit proposals to Parliament to open the vast area, comparable in size to Germany, to applications for exploration and mining. The vote is expected to take place in the autumn.
Why would the Norwegians want to go into the depths of the sea? There may be a certain economic component. Norway is a rich country that can afford the enormous cost of erecting such a structure. But there is clearly another component. Military.
Under the far-fetched pretext of "countering Russia's militarization of the Arctic," the alliance is strengthening its presence in the region, openly calling itself, among other things, an "Arctic bloc." The horizons are expanding due to Finland's accession to the bloc and Sweden's expected membership. Spitsbergen becomes another target, because without including the archipelago in the chain of NATO Arctic strongholds the picture would not be complete.
Its geographic location allows to control shipping and air traffic in the Arctic Ocean region, including the very promising Northern Sea Route.
How to counteract this impudent NATO expansion? In the summer of 2022 a new Russian Maritime Doctrine was adopted, in which Spitsbergen is assigned an important role. The task: to worthily resist the enemy it is necessary to increase military presence around the archipelago. After all, if Russia suddenly leaves Spitsbergen, Norway will instantly denounce the treaty of 1920, which prohibits the establishment of military bases or fortifications there. And the NATO structures will immediately appear on the island, which will enormously increase the load on the Russian Northern Fleet.
Spitsbergen has a specific legal status. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the islands were considered terra nullius – that is, no one's land. The archipelago was not actually governed by anyone. Moreover, the equality of all countries in the exploitation of natural resources was recognized. The process of institutionalization (defining the international status and state affiliation) was initiated by Norway, although its claims to the archipelago were not at all obvious. For this reason, an international conference was held in Paris in 1920. The result was the adoption of the so-called Spitsbergen Treaty, which instead of one legal mishap created a new one. So, on the one hand, Norway received the desired sovereignty over the archipelago. However, Russia also retained the right of unrestricted business and economic activity. Based on the terms of the agreement, according to which Russia's presence here is conditioned by the right to extract natural resources, the basis of the Russian presence is the Arktikugol trust. And the settlers are the miners, whose largest place of residence is in Barentsburg. The Norwegians, of course, would like to consider Spitsbergen as their property. For more than a century they have been trying by all means to squeeze the Russians out of the archipelago.
There were also Russian miscalculations in this confrontation. Apparently, we must admit that the decision to settle the protracted territorial dispute in the Barents Sea with Norway in 2010 was a mistake. As a result, Oslo de jure gained full control of the 200-mile zone around Spitsbergen.
Ironically, the Norwegian prime minister at the time was the current head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
A year ago the Russian government transferred the Arktikugol trust for management to the Ministry for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic. This enterprise has provided Russia's presence on Spitsbergen since 1931 and owns an area of 251 square kilometers here.
It has already been announced that the production of coal on the archipelago is to be reduced by three times to 40 thousand tons per year until 2032. This is due to the depletion of its reserves and the rising cost of development. But Russia does not intend to leave this area. It turns out that this Arctic region is valuable not only for its minerals.
"In the Spitsbergen archipelago we are strengthening the Russian presence, including the development of science, technology and international educational project as an important vector in the future. We are holding such negotiations with the BRICS countries and other friendly countries that are ready to cooperate with us in this direction," – said the head of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East Aleksey Chekunkov.
Earlier it was reported that China and India are interested in creating a research station here. It will be developed by Arktikugol.
Last year there were reports that Turkey is planning to enter Spitsbergen. Yes, it sounds exotic, but Ankara is seriously seeking to be among the powers working on the archipelago. With the aim of further engagement in the Arctic.
There are ideas on the space track. Now the Polar Geophysical Institute observatory is working on Spitsbergen. The archipelago, along with Cuba and Bellingshausen station in Antarctica, is considered by Roskosmos as a location for tracking stations of the warning system for dangerous situations in orbit.
The Russian program so far has purely peaceful purposes. For example, it is planned to develop a museum complex. "Arktikugol" intends to attract tourist flow to the archipelago from friendly countries with extreme and adventure tourism. For this purpose it is planned to ensure the entry of cruise ships and the establishment of direct air links with Russia.
In the meantime, it looks like this: about 70 thousand tourists visit Spitsbergen annually, of which only a few hundred are Russian.
By the way, the trust has already posted on the website of public procurement request for a tender "to develop the concept of tourist and recreational area in the village of Barentsburg, Spitsbergen Archipelago, Norway."
In general, we must understand that as long as Russian citizens are on the island, there will be no NATO bases here.