Russia defends its interests in the Arctic seas

According to Captain 1st Class Igor Dygalo, the Russian Navy restored presence of the Northern Fleet in Arctic seas including around Spitzbergen. "The ASW ship Severomorsk is patrolling the area at this point, while arrival of the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov on station is expected on July 17," Dygalo said. The Navy promises to make sorties into Arctic seas regular. "The Russian Navy operates within the framework of the international law including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982)," Dygalo said.

Combatants of the Navy had always patrolled the areas visited by Soviet and Russian fishing ships until the early 1990s when the Soviet Union disintegrated. When it happened, the Kremlin ordered withdrawal from the Arctic seas and Norway immediately moved in claiming Spitzbergen for its own.

Most countries that signed the Paris Treaty regarding Spitzbergen in 1920 deny Norway the exclusive rights to develop the area. Spain and Iceland claim that provisions of the treaty on non-discriminating access to the resources apply to both the 200-mile wide zone and the continental shelf.

Naval Commander Vladimir Vysotsky promised Russian fishing trawlers in the area near Spitzbergen "moral support". "In fact, we've been doing so since 2004," Vysotsky said. On the other hand, it is not always that the Northern Fleet can save Russian trawlers from the Norwegians.

The latter regularly harass Russian ships fishing in the area. Back in the Soviet era, it was something wholly unthinkable. All the Norwegians dared then was signal to Soviet trawlers that they were fishing in a batable area. These days, Moscow is clearly trying to restore this state of affairs.

This is not the first time this year that Moscow flexes muscles in the Arctic seas. Vladimir Shamanov of the Main Directorate of Combat Training said in late June that his subordinates were already updating "combat training curricula for what assets of the branches of the military might be assigned to Arctic operations." According to Shamanov, the process was initiated as soon as leaders of some foreign countries challenged Russia's claims for the wealthy Arctic oceanic shelf. "The Americans even ran a 12-day exercise there involving 5,000 servicemen, 120 aircraft, and some surface combatants," Shamanov said. All of that necessitated an update on combat training curricula of the Leningrad, Siberian, and Far East military districts.

Experts point out meanwhile that Spitzbergen is a territory with a quaint legal regime. On the one hand, the Paris treaty recognized its international status. On the other, it fixed Norway's right to Spitzbergen and its territorial waters.

Russian fishing ships regularly find themselves in trouble with the Norwegians because of the fluency of local legislation. Moreover, differences in the Russian and Norwegian fishing rules are staggering indeed. All of that results in constant fines and arrests of Russian trawlers by the Norwegians. "That is why the Navy should have been dispatched to provide cover long ago if the Russians fish there legitimately," an expert said.

Konstantin Simonov, General Director of the Energy Security Foundation, is convinced that all territorial problems of the northern and adjacent territories stem from the hydrocarbons believed to be present there. "Sooner or later, the Arctic area will be inevitably divided," he said.

"Remember the episodes when Norwegian border guards harassed Russian trawlers? They were not about the catch, of course. They were about hydrocarbons," Simonov said. "I'm afraid that the Arctic Ocean will become a militarized zone soon. All nearby countries are aware of existence of hydrocarbons in the area. What they do not know at this point is how to divide them."

In any event, Simonov said, the resources will have to be divided one day and military arguments will certainly be used in the process because the role of peaceful ones is diminishing along with that of the UN and other international institutions.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 15, 2008.