Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Canada and the Nordic countries have established cooperation to create a new Arctic security coalition that will counteract Russia and China. It will become a platform for coordinating actions in the field of defense, intelligence and cyber threats, Azernews reports.

Security talks are necessary because representatives of these countries no longer meet privately at the political level, partly because of Russia's presence in the Arctic Council, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said.

After Sweden joined NATO, all the Nordic countries are members of the alliance, Bloomberg notes.

"For a long time, Canada thought that we were protected by our geography. But now we need to take into account the fact that we are a country that is facing Russia, and due to climate change, more and more countries are showing interest in the Arctic, including China. We need to take into account this new reality," Jolie said.

The Canadian Foreign Minister met with her colleagues from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden last week. They agreed to explore ways to create a so-called "Arctic security dialogue" or a new forum to discuss defense issues.

According to the minister, during these discussions it is also necessary to focus on foreign investments in the Arctic and so-called "dual-use" research conducted by opponents who pursue both civilian and strategic goals.

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