Arctic militarization unacceptable but Russia must secure interests in this region - Rogozin
MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) - The creation of a NATO Arctic Command was opposed not only by Russia but other Arctic nations as well, which shows the importance of understanding the unacceptability of militarization of this region, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday.
He said that back in 2010, when he was Russia's Ambassador to NATO in Brussels, he noticed that "NATO suddenly got too worried about the Arctic and started discussing the creation of an NATO Arctic Command."
"I started asking them: why would you need this, where are you meddling with your militarization? Their explanation was simple: the Arctic glaciers are melting, the Northern Sea Route is going to open and navigation will begin, including in the interests of western powers, and this navigation should be protected by the military. Such was a pretext for forming the NATO Arctic Command," Rogozin said at a meeting with high-school and university students, who are members of the eighth youth Arctic expedition
"The most interesting thing is that NATO's launch into the Arctic was opposed not only by us but several other Arctic nations as well. Norway, for instance, is no mood to receive its own friends there, later the Canadians started frowning at this," the deputy prime minister said.
The Arctic is a vast territory which can be of direct practical benefit to Russia, Rogozin said. It has significant reserves of natural resources, 80% of Russia's are there, he said.
"Now everyone has got new predatory ambitions, everyone is scrambling for the Arctic. It just goes to show that at present it is a point of convergence of the geopolitical interests of all leading nations, first and foremost, our Arctic neighbors - the U.S., Canada and other countries," the deputy prime minister added.
These plans will remain under any scenario, he said.
"History says that that Arctic topic is very political and one has to be on alert and on guard here," Rogozin said.
Russia is holding military drills in the Arctic and has set up a command charged with protecting our national security in the Arctic, he said. But he warned against applying the word 'militarization' with respect to the Arctic. "We must talk about studying the region, the macro-region," the deputy prime minister said.
