Russia moves first troops to Arctic base near Finnish border
Russia is stepping up its military activity in the Arctic region. As part of this effort, Russian Armed Forces reopened an abandoned military base on the Kola Peninsula in the Russia city of Alakurtti recently, just 60 kilometres from the Finnish border. [..] An unconfirmed source also reported the air base would house a newly created Northern Fleet signals intelligence unit, charged with tracking military, maritime, and air movements and activities, supporting developments in the Arctic and the Far North, and searching for threats from the West.[..]
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Russia is to have 14 operational airfields in the Arctic by the end of the year, state media quoted defence officials as saying on 13 January.
Ten airfields will be constructed by the end of 2015, in addition to the four already in use, deputy defence minister Dmitry Bulgakov reportedly said, according to the state-controlled Sputnik news agency.
The report did not disclose the location of these airfields, and neither did it clarify whether these will be reopened Soviet-era installations or built from new.
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STRATFOR viedoklis par Krievijas aktivitātēm Arktikā
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[..]If anybody had told me eight years ago that Singapore would have a special division in its foreign ministry on Arctic issues, or that the Arctic Council, which in the first years of this century was still a rather weak talking shop, would accept the leading economies of Asia and Europe as partners, I’m not sure I would have accepted that.[..]
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Iceland’s president since 1996.
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vara bungas: Nav tālu līdz #arktikanasha…
Vai drīkst jautāt LV ārpolitikas pārzinātājiem, kāda ir LV arktiskā programma vai vismaz nostāja? Google rāda, ka LV nav viedokļa šajā jautājumā (nevar atrast ne rakstus, ne paziņojumus), bet tas ir ļoti, ļoti netālredzīgi. Notikumi ap Arktikas pārdali jau ietekmē mūsu reģiona drošību, tuvākā nākotnē šī tendence tikai pastiprināsies. Mūsu sabiedroto labvēlība lielā mērā saistīta ar gaidāmajiem notikumiem aiz Polārā loka, jo LV ostas ir pietiekami tuvu šim reģionam – to vajadzētu izmantot.
PS Bet protams! Atšķirībā no LV arktiskie pētījumi, intereses un programma ir EE.
UPD1 Как вы понимаете, главным соперником США в Арктике неизбежно станет Россия. И особую остроту конфликту как раз может придать то обстоятельство, что мы гораздо более к нему готовы, чем американцы.
В кои-то веки мы сумели нарастить потенциал присутствия здесь раньше, чем американцы, сумели создать инфраструктуру, которой не имеют они, нашли средства, чтобы начать добывать ресурсы на своем шельфе, направили в Арктический совет документы для закрепления за Россией законно принадлежащих ей территорий… Сделано действительно много. Но…
vara bungas 