Great Britain engulfed in Arctic fever
Exactly one year ago, British Secretary of Defense Gavin Williamson announced a new defense strategy for the United Kingdom in the Arctic region, the main goal of which, he said, was to protect against the “Russian threat”.
“Russia with a large number of submarines operating under the ice, and the intention to build more than 100 objects, claims and militarizes the region. We must be prepared to confront all threats as they arise, ”the politician said.
Another statement about the “Russian expansion” of the polar latitudes came from the mouth of Williamson in February this year. He explained that the strengthening of British influence in the Far North is taking place within the framework of the ten-year program recently adopted by the authorities of the Kingdom to build up its presence in the Arctic Circle. It is implemented jointly with the Norwegian authorities and provides for the joint training of 800 British Marines and Norwegian military personnel who will serve annually in Scandinavia under rotational conditions. “This is necessary for the formation of a united British-Norwegian brigade in the region,” Williamson explained.
In addition, the politician announced the appearance in the Arctic region by 2020 of the latest P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft. In addition, the northern territorial waters will patrol the submarines of the British Navy, which are currently deployed in the city of Lossimuth (Scotland).
The goal of the program, according to Williamson, is to maximize the size of the armed forces beyond the Arctic Circle and thus protect the northern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance from threats from Russia.
It is possible that the formation of the British-Norwegian brigade will be the first step for NATO to form a special Arctic unit in the region formed on the basis of the British Joint Expedition Force, which will operate in the polar latitudes on an ongoing basis.
Why the British prefer not the peaceful development of the region (which Russia, in particular, advocates), but its militarization, is not difficult to guess. First, London, as an observer country in the Arctic Council, wants to increase its authority among the circumpolar powers.
The second, from the British point of view, a weighty argument is that the northern border of the economic zone of the Scottish Islands allegedly extends beyond the Arctic Circle. And this means that the British have every right to claim the wealth of the Arctic. The hydrocarbons that the region is rich in are of great importance to the British. Recall that the UK is an oil and gas producing country, but at the moment it is experiencing a large shortage of hydrocarbons, which it uses extremely carefully.
At the same time, there can be no talk of any "geopolitical independence" of Great Britain. London demonstrates full commitment to the policy of the North Atlantic Alliance and its Arctic policy, thanks to which the Arctic risks becoming one more “battlefield” of world states.