Arctic Policy of Finland is Finland's

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...

with other

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

, and Finland's

government policies Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

on issues occurring within the

geographic Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its peoples. Since Finland is itself an Arctic nation, with roughly one third of its territory existing above the Arctic Circle, the Arctic Policy of Finland includes its domestic policies as regards the Finnish Arctic region. Finland's Strategy for the Arctic Region was released June 4, 2010 and concentrates on seven priorities: security, environment, economy, infrastructure, indigenous peoples, institutions and the European Union. Diplomatically, Finland was integral in the creation of the

Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle, ...

and remains an active member. Indeed, Finland will be Chair of the Arctic Council in 2017-18 making for increased emphasis on Arctic policy during that time. Specifically, Finland is calling for making the Arctic Council a more robust treaty-making organization and for hosting a meeting of leaders of the eight Arctic nations during their Chairmanship. Finland has also been involved in the

Barents Barents may refer to: *René Barents (born 1951), Dutch judge and legal scholar *Willem Barents (c. 1550–1597), Dutch navigator and explorer *Barents AirLink, a Swedish airline *Barents Island (), an island in the Svalbard archipelago, part of ...

Euro-Arctic Council since its creation in 1993. Finland emphasizes the importance of the Arctic Council as a forum for discussion and decision making and suggests strengthening the council by installing better burden-sharing and a joint budget, establishing a permanent secretariat, expanding the normative role of the council, enhancing interaction with non-Arctic actors and creating a Communications and Outreach Strategy for the council. Finland also offers to host a high-level Arctic Summit to discuss the environmental concerns of natural resource exploitation, the legitimacy of different actors in the Arctic and the future of the Arctic Council. Finland is also an EU member, one of only three (along with Sweden and Denmark) Arctic nations, which give it a heightened role in the EU's Arctic Policy and similarly, give the EU a significant role in the Finnish Arctic strategy. Finland supports EU admittance as a permanent observer member of the Arctic Council. In recent years, geopolitical tensions with Russia and repeated military intrusions into Finnish airspace have reinvigorated a debate in Finland about cooperation with NATO, and even the potential for future NATO membership.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Finland's Arctic Council Page

Finland's Strategy for the Arctic Region
Foreign relations of Finland

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

See also

References

External links