Nordic countries huddle together as world gets bigger

Features discusses an initiative by the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to band together in response to the melting ice caps and the coming race to tap new mineral resources and trade routes in their Northern waters such as the Arctic Ocean.

A Nato-style 'musketeer' clause and closer consular co-operation could form part of a new Nordic alliance, foreshadowing future developments inside the EU.

The Nordic Council is lobbying governments to support the objectives laid down in the NB8 Wise Men Report, which urged five Nordic and three Baltic states to unite behind regional rather than national defence policies and speed up regional government and military talks.

DefenseNews, 15.11.10: Proposed Nordic-Baltic Pact Gains Steam http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5043127

ESO: Background information: Russia has reasons to turn up the heat in the Arctic http://www.europeansources.info/record/russia-has-reasons-to-turn-up-the-heat-in-the-arctic/

Nordic Cooperation on Foreign and Security Policy. Proposals presented to the extraordinary meeting of Nordic foreign ministers in Oslo on 9 February 2009 (Report by Thorvald Stoltenberg) http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/nordicreport.pdf

Norden: Areas of cooperation: The Nordic Region and the surrounding world http://www.norden.org/en/areas-of-co-operation/the-nordic-region-and-the-surrounding-world

NB8 wise men report, 2010 http://www.utanrikisraduneyti.is/media/Skyrslur/NB8-Wise-Men-Report.pdf

---