Policy

Ursula von der Leyen visited Greenland to discuss the Arctic's growing strategic importance with allies, signaling the EU’s push to rethink its Arctic policy amid intensifying global power competition.

Swedish politicians, including deputy prime minister Ebba Busch, have publicly criticized Sami reindeer‑herding, coinciding with LKAB’s planned expansion of the Kiruna iron‑ore mine to the Per Geijer rare‑earth deposit. The move threatens traditional herding routes and sparks a national debate over balancing resource development with indigenous rights.

Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Royal Danish Navy ship Thetis patrols the North Atlantic, highlighting the EU’s commitment to Greenland’s security and foreshadowing a focus on the issue in the upcoming EU Arctic Strategy due this autumn.

The Trump administration’s new policy would exempt drilling and seismic surveys in Alaska from environmental review, potentially allowing activities that scar tundra, disturb female polar bears, and alter caribou behavior, raising concerns over Arctic ecosystem impacts.

Around 100 Danish conscripts from the Schleswig Foot Regiment have been sent to Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq for a month‑long training cycle, marking the first use of Denmark’s new 11‑month conscription program in Greenland and bolstering the country’s Arctic presence amid U.S. annexation threats.

The article outlines how the EU can shape Arctic conditions through its policies.

Korea’s plan to open an Arctic shipping route is challenged by rapid ice melt in polar regions, raising concerns about navigability and environmental impact.

Canada has pledged $81 billion over two decades for Arctic defence, a move that could alter security dynamics in the region.

Denmark’s parliament approved a 300,000 DKK compensation scheme for Inuit women who received contraception without consent between 1960‑1991, while Greenland’s expert group released two conflicting reports on rights violations and genocide claims, as the country observes the first International Day of Indigenous Women.

The Bureau of Land Management has introduced a fast‑track procedure that would enable oil and gas projects in the Western Arctic, raising concerns about impacts on wildlife and climate.

The Trump Administration has proposed regulations that would allow oil drilling in Alaska's Western Arctic, a move requested by the oil industry and aimed at facilitating potentially massive new oil development in sensitive areas.

The Trump administration is proposing to fast‑track approvals for oil drilling projects in Alaska after a trade group request, with the Bureau of Land Management issuing a proposal to quickly approve new oil and gas wells.

The article notes that the Arctic is attracting heightened geopolitical interest from great powers amid climate change impacts.

Andreas Raspotnik urged the committee that the EU must align its Arctic ambitions with funding, institutions, and concrete action.

The Bureau of Land Management has begun the renewal process for the Trans‑Alaska Pipeline’s right‑of‑way, a move that would keep the 49‑year‑old oil transport system operating on federal lands for several more decades.

A European Parliament report criticises the EU’s Arctic policy as five years out of date and lacking a permanent institutional base, urging the creation of an Arctic hub in the Commission and a partnership with Iceland, Norway, and Greenland. The analysis follows Iceland’s 52.8 % rejection of renewed accession talks, highlighting fisheries as a key sticking point and underscoring the EU’s need to align its ambitions with practical actions in the region.

The European Commission is set to decide, at the last minute, whether to keep or lift its 2021 ban on new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.

A meeting of the Northwest Arctic Subsistence Regional Advisory Council in Kotzebue will address subsistence concerns and set priorities for the 2028 Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program.