General
What does Finland and Sweden’s membership to NATO mean for race to arm the Arctic?
Following Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO, seven of the eight Arctic Council members will be fighting Russia’s threat in the Far North, which has had a significant military advantage for the past decades.
Russia has had the military advantage in the Arctic for decades but NATO hopes that Sweden and Finland’s recent accession could help the military alliance catch up quickly.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Moscow has “significant” long-range defence capabilities that “certainly challenge” NATO in the Arctic. Eight of the 11 submarines Russia has that are capable of launching long-range nuclear weapons are based in the Arctic Kola Peninsula, according to a report from Reuters and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Russia is ahead of the rest of the Arctic countries in terms of the militarisation of the region, a research associate at the Arctic Institute, Nima Khorrami, told Euronews. Yet, NATO is closing this gap, he added.
As key players in the Arctic Circle, Sweden and Finland have been developing their military and defence capabilities against the threats presented by neighbouring Russia there. Their accession into NATO — in March 2024 for