NATO launches Arctic Guard mission

2026-02-11 19:50:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

NATO has officially launched the Arctic Guard mission, with the aim of improving the alliance's military position in the Arctic region.

The move comes after recent tensions between NATO allies Denmark and the United States over the political future of Greenland. When it was first mentioned last month, several diplomats told Radio Free Europe that a possible Arctic mission could be a way out of a growing crisis.

Following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month in Davos, Switzerland, it was agreed that NATO should play a greater role around Greenland, to repel potential Chinese and Russian interventions around the island and in the Arctic in general.

During a press conference in Brussels on February 11, Rutte said that "for the first time we will bring under one command everything we do in the Arctic. We will not only use all the capacities we have, but we will also see what the gaps are and fill them," adding that "we do this because we have a clear feeling that the Russians and the Chinese are becoming increasingly active there."

In a press release regarding the launch of the mission, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, said that "Arctic Guard highlights the alliance's commitment to protecting its members and maintaining stability in one of the most strategically important and environmentally challenging areas in the world," adding that the mission will "use NATO's power to defend our homeland and ensure that the Arctic and High North remain secure."

So far, no details have been released on how many NATO countries are involved in the mission or even the level of troops, although the Western military alliance has confirmed that the mission is "multidimensional," meaning it will include air, sea and land.

NATO has also announced that Denmark's Arctic Resistance exercise, along with 11 other European NATO member countries currently taking place in and around Greenland, as well as the upcoming exercise titled Icy Response in northern Norway and Finland, involving 25,000 soldiers, including US troops, will be part of the Arctic Guard mission.

Seven of the eight so-called "Arctic" countries are members of NATO, with only Russia being the exception.

with Russia being the most notable exception. And while the waters around Greenland are not currently filled with Russian and Chinese ships, that could change as Arctic sea ice melts and new shipping lanes open up.

The Arctic Guard mission comes after NATO formed similar missions in 2025 that are still under development in the Baltic Sea - in response to suspected Russian sabotage of undersea cables - and on the alliance's eastern flank, following Russian drone incursions into Poland in September last year. /REL