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Gavin Williamson wants to strengthen the British military presence in the Arctic, citing a "threat" of Russia. He called the "back yard" of Britain, perhaps stating that the UK would not mind giving itself a piece of the pie.
British Secretary of Defense Gavin Williamson told the Sunday Telegraph that he was increasingly concerned that the British army was failing to keep up with Russia in the far north. Climate change and geography make the Arctic vulnerable to Russia, he said, saying the melting ice had made the region, with its natural resources, more navigable than ever.
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Before his speech at a conservative conference this Sunday, he said "Increased tempo" of Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic and that it shows that Britain has to "Demonstrate that we are here." How?
About 800 Royal Navy and Army commandos will be deployed to Norway each winter over the next decade, the newspaper reported. They will operate alongside US Marines and Norwegian troops.
"If we want to protect our interests in our own backyard, we have to do it," Williamson said. the "Backyard" One party may leave many scratching their heads, as the question of whether or not the UK is an Arctic state remains open.
Apart from Williamson's geography, there is an Arctic Council, a leading international body of eight sovereignty countries on the Arctic Circle lands: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States. Apart from that, there are many observer states, including Britain.
In 2011, the board clarified its criteria for admitting observers – these states must "Recognize the sovereignty of Arctic states, their sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the Arctic" what the United Kingdom had done.
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The Foreign Office said in 2013 that it was going "Support and respect the sovereign rights of Arctic states to exercise jurisdiction over their territory". The Arctic Council was created in 1991 to overcome the hostility of the Cold War between the nations of the far north.
However, it seems that the specter of the cold war is alive and well, at least in Williamson's mind.
"If we could go back in time for 10 years, many people thought that the era of underwater activity in the Far North, in the North Atlantic and the threat it posed had disappeared with the fall of the Berlin", he says in affirming the threat "Is really back on the scene"
Russia is effectively strengthening its military presence in the polar regions and has also warned that the protection of its interests "Remains among the main priorities of the Russian armed forces."
However, Russia's exploration of the Arctic is not limited to military activities. Earlier this year, it appeared that Moscow was building a giant railway to boost trade between Europe and Asia and was even considering opening the Arctic to Chinese tourists.
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