As the rivalry in the high North heats up, Russia has expressed concern that NATO-member Norway is militarizing ‘Svalbard,’ an island territory in the Arctic that remains under Norwegian control but holds immense strategic value for Moscow.
In a statement last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow has expressed its concerns to Norwegian Ambassador to Russia Robert Kvile on Oslo’s increasing militarization of the Svalbard archipelago, TASS News Agency reported.
The statement read: “On March 14, during a working meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway Robert Kvile, the Russian side expressed its concern over Norway’s growing militarization of the Svalbard archipelago.”
In addition to this, the Russian side, also called “on the Norwegian side to abandon any activities that undermine the international legal basis of the archipelago’s status, contribute to the introduction of conflict potential in the territory of Svalbard and the adjacent maritime areas, and lead to an escalation of tensions in the region.”
Without mincing words, the Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that “contrary to the international legal regime established by the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which provides for the exclusively peaceful development of the archipelago and prohibits the use of its territory for military purposes, the area is increasingly involved in Norway’s military and political planning with the participation of the US and NATO.”
Without furnishing any evidence to support its allegations, the Ministry also pointed out that dual-purpose facilities are in operation across the archipelago, enabling the performance of military duties, such as combat operations on third-country territory.
Although Svalbard is part of Norway, the 1920 Svalbard treaty grants Russia the right to use the archipelago’s natural resources. The treaty also allows citizens of foreign countries who are signatories to settle in the archipelago without a visa. There are two Russian communities on the island.
Pyramiden and Barentsburg are two settlements on Svalbard that highlight the region’s historical ties to Russia.
Pyramiden, a coal-mining town named after the mountain above it, was once a model Soviet settlement. It boasted a heated swimming pool, school, canteen, and amenities like a petrol station, greenhouse, farm, kindergarten, hotel, and restaurant—designed to be self-sufficient. Barentsburg, on the other hand, is a small Russian mining community where coal mining continues.
The Norwegian government immediately dismissed the Russian claims. A Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson retorted, “Svalbard is part of Norway and part of NATO. Norwegian authorities act by the Svalbard Treaty.” However, Oslo stopped short of giving a detailed explanation of Moscow’s accusations.
That said, this is not the first time that Svalbard has emerged as a friction point between Russia and Norway, a NATO country that remains apprehensive of Russian designs in the region. For instance, in 2022, Russia accused Norway of imposing restrictions that blocked cargo destined for Russian-populated settlements in Svalbard and warned of retaliation.
Svalbard Caught In The Geopolitical Crosshair?
Svalbard is an archipelago situated north of mainland Norway. Almost twice the size of Belgium, it lies between Norway and the North Pole.
Norway serves as NATO’s watchdog over the area between Svalbard and the Russian mainland. It is also the NATO watchkeeper over the 2 million square kilometers of the North Atlantic that is home to the nuclear submarines of the Russian northern fleet. This inevitably puts Norway at the forefront of the geopolitical rivalry between NATO and Russia in the Arctic region.
On multiple occasions, Russia has complained that Norway is using Svalbard for military purposes in violation of Article 9 of the treaty, which reads, “Norway undertakes not to create nor to allow the establishment of any naval base in the territories specified in Article 1 and not to construct any fortification in the said territories, which may never be used for warlike purposes.”
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US-based think tank, “Russian sensitivities to the question of military activity on Svalbard relate not only to the treaty but primarily to the proximity of Svalbard to the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula and its strategic position to defend Arctic territory and project power in the Greenland, Iceland, and United Kingdom–Norway (GIUK-N) gap.”
The recent Russian allegations against the militarization of Svalbard come as tensions continue to build up in the Arctic region, which is becoming more accessible and competitive with the rapid shrinking of ice due to global warming.
Svalbard’s strategic location offers crucial access to key Arctic sea routes, notably the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which could drastically cut shipping distances between Europe and Asia.
By 2030, Russia wants to use its NSR Development Plan to ship at least 150 million tonnes of coal, liquefied natural gas, crude oil, and other goods annually. As part of the plan, more than fifty icebreakers and ice-class ships will be deployed, and new ports, terminals, and emergency response ships will be built to service the route.
Thus, Svalbard continues to be very significant for Russia and its NSR scheme.
The archipelago is militarily important because it can restrict access to and from Russia’s Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula, which is home to Russia’s strategic nuclear submarines.
There are concerns that Russia will soon be able to monitor shipping activity along the NSR, obtain intelligence on the actions of other countries, and possibly disrupt or influence shipping movements during periods of increased geopolitical tension if it controls or influences the activities surrounding Svalbard.
As a potential chokepoint, the archipelago affects the NSR’s security and effectiveness, which is a vital component of Russia’s Arctic economic plan.
The waters surrounding Svalbard also contain large quantities of metal minerals and abundant fish species, including cod and shrimp. However, Russia is believed to be interested in more than just directly extracting resources from Svalbard. The region is ideally situated to serve as a platform for future resource research and exploitation in the nearby Arctic seabed and waterways.
Thus, keeping a significant presence on Svalbard may give Russia a logistical edge in obtaining and using these resources in the future.
There has long been concern that if Norway militarizes Svalbard, it will eventually expel the Russians living in the archipelago. This could be detrimental to what are believed to be long-term Russian plans in the region.
In July 2024, the Russian state-owned mining company Trust Arktikugol hoisted the Soviet flag in Svalbard, accompanied by the slogan “Peace to the World.”
The increase in Russian overtures to Svalbard and the attempt to expand its presence on the island territory has not been lost in Norway. In 2023, Russia reportedly revealed a bold proposal to establish a Svalbard science center in the abandoned Pyramiden, with involvement from nations deemed friendly by the Kremlin government. This caused a stir in Norway, which has grown to be more suspicious of Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia is known to have more security forces in the Arctic than any other state, as it desires to protect the Arctic as a strategic resource base. This predominance of force in the region means Moscow will have a large role to play in the event of a potential conflict. CSIS states, “Russia—if it wanted to escalate a conflict while retaining some form of plausible deniability—could initiate actions to undermine Norwegian sovereignty using these complaints as justification.”
On its part, NATO takes Russian interest in the Norwegian territories very seriously. For a long time, it has conducted exercises simulating a military response to a potential Russian attack on Norway.
As previously explained by the EurAsian Times, the scenario for the NATO military exercise in the Arctic circle has been similar for years now: Norway is attacked by a fictional country, triggering the alliance’s collective defense clause and leading to troops from the United States and more than a dozen partners coming to defend the country.
The stakes at Svalbard continue to rise, and with the High North becoming a flashpoint, Svalbard is caught between Russia and NATO.
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