Stoltenberg: Russia a Strategic Challenge for NATO in Arctic

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg near a Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft during their visit to CFB Cold Lake in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada August 26, 2022. Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg near a Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft during their visit to CFB Cold Lake in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada August 26, 2022. Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Stoltenberg: Russia a Strategic Challenge for NATO in Arctic

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg near a Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft during their visit to CFB Cold Lake in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada August 26, 2022. Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg near a Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft during their visit to CFB Cold Lake in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada August 26, 2022. Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS

Russia's capabilities in the North are a strategic challenge for NATO, its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, welcoming Canada's recently announced investments in North American defense systems after making his first visit to the Canadian arctic.

"The importance of the high North is increasing for NATO and for Canada because we see a significant Russian military buildup," Stoltenberg said, standing alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Cold Lake, Alberta.

Russia has reopened hundreds of Soviet-era military sites in the arctic, using the region to test new weapons systems, Stoltenberg said. He also warned that Russia and China were forming a strategic arctic partnership that challenged NATO's values and interests.

Canada has been criticized for spending too little on its military capabilities as a NATO member. But after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Canada said in June it would invest C$4.9 billion ($3.8 billion) over the next six years to modernize NORAD, the joint US-Canadian North American defense organization.

"The geopolitical situation has shifted over the past months, which is why understanding that Russia is an increasing concern to all of us makes it timely for us to share with the Secretary General and with NATO all the things that Canada is doing through NORAD," Reuters quoted Trudeau as saying.

Trudeau and Stoltenberg visited Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Thursday, a hamlet above the Arctic Circle where a radar outpost for air defense is located. It is part of NORAD's North Warning System, which experts say is in dire need of upgrades.

The over six-decade-old system detects security threats to North America, and its early-warning radar for the polar region dates back to the late 1980s.

Both Trudeau and Stoltenberg agreed climate change is making the arctic more accessible for economic and military activities, increasing security concerns.



Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

The Dutch government said on Monday it had tightened export controls for all military and 'dual use' goods destined for Israel.

All direct exports and the transit of these goods to Israel will be checked to see if they comply with European regulations, and will no longer be covered by general export licences, the government said in a letter to parliament.

"This is desirable considering the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the wider region," foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp and trade minister Reinette Klever wrote, Reuters reported.

"Exporters will still be able to request permits, that will then be checked against European regulations."

The government said no military goods for Israel had been exported from the Netherlands under a general permit since Israel started its war in Gaza following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

It said that the general licence for the export of "low risk information security goods", such as routers for network security, was frequently used for export to Israel.

It estimated that between 50 and 100 permits for the export of those goods would now have to be requested on an individual basis.

A Dutch court last year ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza.