US EditionAfter Greenland, Arctic island Svalbard wary of great powers
Svalbard's strategic waters and resource rights fuel tensions among Norway, Russia, the US, and China, with nearly 50 treaty signatories holding equal resource access rights.
- Svalbard has attracted renewed great-power attention, as US Arctic focus and SIPRI's Barbara Kunz say the waters around it, not the land itself, hold strategic value.
- The Svalbard Treaty recognizes Norway's sovereignty while granting nearly 50 signatory powers resource rights and control over the strategic 'Bear Gap' area.
- In Barentsburg, Russian symbols such as a Lenin bust, Cyrillic signage, and pro‑Russian parades mark the town, where all signs are in Cyrillic, contrasting with Longyearbyen's Arctic life.
- Those competing aims raise the strategic cost of access around Svalbard, with Norway tightening controls since 2014 and the US seeking to deny Russian submarine access to the Atlantic, according to policy sources.
- Broader trends suggest rival states will contest maritime access rather than seek territorial gains, as Mikaa Blugeon-Mered warned `The Russians have other more strategic priorities right now and have no interest in an escalation beyond the hybrid actions they've been conducting for a long time`.
35 Articles
35 Articles
‘Today Greenland, tomorrow Svalbard?’ Norway tightens grip on strategic Arctic archipelago amid rising great‑power rivalry
LONGYEARBYEN, Feb 20 — There are no outward signs of jitters, at least not yet: people in Svalbard are going about their daily lives as normal despite speculation that this Norwegian archipelago could be the next Arctic territory coveted by the United States or Russia.“Today Greenland, tomorrow Svalbard?” — Terje Aunevik, mayor of Svalbard’s main town Longyearbyen, says he has been asked the question many times.US President Donald Trump’s expans…
After Greenland, could this Norwegian archipelago be of interest to Russians and Americans?
Norway's Svalbard island wary of global powers after Greenland dispute
There are no outward signs of jitters, at least not yet: people in Svalbard are going about their daily lives as normal despite speculation that this Norwegian archipelago could be the next Arctic territory coveted by the United States or Russia.
Arctic island Svalbard also wary of great powers
LONGYEARBYEN, Svalbard - There are no outward signs of jitters, at least not yet: people in Svalbard are going about their daily lives as normal despite speculation that this Norwegian archipelago could be the next Arctic territory coveted by the United States or Russia.
The Killeen Daily Herald
After Greenland, Arctic island Svalbard wary of great powers
There are no outward signs of jitters, at least not yet: people in Svalbard are going about their daily lives as normal despite speculation that this Norwegian archipelago could be the next Arctic territory coveted by the United States or…
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