A meeting of 12 European nations in Finland on Monday called on the European Union to strengthen its presence in the Arctic, a new geopolitical battleground caught between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump.
"We call for the European Union to take on a more strategic and proactive role in the European Arctic," the countries' leaders wrote in a joint statement following a European-Arctic Summit in the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, attended by Denmark, France, Germany, Greece and Sweden, among others.
The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was in need of icebreakers, but it was not immediately clear if she was proposing joint acquisition or urging member states to bolster their own capacities.
Given "the situation that we are in, and considering climate change and the opening of maritime routes, we need icebreakers or ships that are able to navigate in these very difficult" conditions, Kallas told reporters.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has suggested the EU could direct part of its ongoing surge in defense spending on a "European icebreaker capability," which is traditionally considered a civilian capability, among other equipment vital to Arctic security.
