[euobserver.com] The Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland –
could pool military forces, maritime monitoring and satellite
surveillance, a report commissioned by the five foreign ministers says.
Drafted by former Norwegian foreign minister Thorvald Stoltenberg,
the study out on Monday (9 February) puts forward 13 proposals to be
endorsed at a Nordic foreign ministers meeting in Reykjavik in April.
"All
Nordic ministers welcomed the report," Urdur Gunnarsdottir, press
officer with the Icelandic ministry of foreign affairs told the
EUobserver.
Out of the five countries, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are EU
members. Denmark is also in NATO, with Sweden eyeing membership. Norway
and Iceland meanwhile are in NATO but not in the EU.
The report suggests the establishment of a common task force to
include both civilian and military personnel, deployable under UN or EU
missions abroad.
Pooling strategic airlift and establishing common amphibious unit
are mentioned, as well as a common maritime response force, consisting
of the countries‘ coast guards.
With the accelerated melting of the ice cap and a projected increase
in traffic for oil and gas transport, the five countries are also
advised to establish a monitoring and early warning system in the
Nordic sea areas.
"The system should in principle be civilian and designed for tasks
such as monitoring the marine environment and pollution and monitoring
of civilian traffic," the Stoltenberg paper says.
The system should have two pillars, one for the Baltic Sea
("BalticWatch") and one for the North Atlantic, parts of the Arctic
Ocean and the Barents Sea ("BarentsWatch"), under a common overall
system.
Further proposals include a common satelite system, a resource
network to help against cyber attacks and a disaster response unit.
The Stoltenberg blueprint is not likely to shape the Swedish EU
presidency, a Swedish official told the EUobserver under condition of
anonymity.
But the report should be seen as a "good housekeeping effort between
Nordic countries" with a clear economic drive, he said. The official
didn’t expect resistance from the EU or NATO on the issue, citing the
EU’s Nordic battlegroup (involving non-EU member Norway) as a precedent
for such regional initiatives.
Air protection for Iceland
Ms Gunnarsdottir added that the Icelandic government particularly
welcomed the idea of including non-NATO countries in the alliance’s
efforts to oversee Iceland’s airspace, after the US withdrew its troops
from its Icelandic base in 2006.
"The Nordic countries should take on part of the responsibility for
air surveillance and air patrolling over Iceland," the Stoltenberg
paper proposes.
In 2009, NATO members Denmark, Spain and the US will be deploying
fighter planes to Iceland. Germany and the US have confirmed that they
will deploy aircraft in 2010. Other countries that have shown an
interest in taking part in air patrols include Canada, Italy and
Poland.
Finland and Sweden to join NATO system
For their part, the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish chiefs of defence
recently proposed that non-NATO members Finland and Sweden should enter
into an agreement on data exchange with NATO’s air defence system.
"This process is already under way, and will make it possible for
the Nordic countries to establish a common recognised air picture for
Nordic airspace and to keep this updated," the Stoltenberg report reads.
Russia, Norway and Iceland already have a system for exchanging
information that ensures continual monitoring of oil tankers sailing
from Murmansk to the US via Norwegian coastal waters and Icelandic
waters.
"The EU is seeking to promote integrated management of vulnerable
sea areas. The EU is also concerned to put in place arrangements that
will make it possible to control the Schengen external borders in the
northern sea areas," the report reads.
"Cross-sectoral, cross-border Nordic co-operation on maritime
monitoring would fit with the EU’s long-term visions in this field, and
an integrated Nordic system could be a pioneering project in Europe and
the world as a whole. This could also open up possibilities for
European-level funding," it adds.
Source: http://euobserver.com/13/27574
