European leaders are gathering to discuss how to secure their Arctic flank as great-power rivalry intensifies in the High North.
Hosted by Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, leaders from across the European Union will arrive on Sunday in Rovaniemi, a town on the edge of Finland’s polar region. At stake is the bloc’s influence in the area as President Donald Trump covets Greenland, Russia increasingly threatens Europe and China seeks to gain a foothold.
“Because the race is with Russians and the Chinese for use and control of the Arctic, there is a joint interest” for the EU and the U.S. to act together, Orpo said in an interview. The Arctic is “where the interests converge” given the U.S. also wants Europe to shoulder the burden over its defenses, and given it’s where Russia maintains some of its most critical military sites, he added.
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