Arctic Coast Guard Forum

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The Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF) is an organisation which unites the coast guards of eight Arctic states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The ACGF's main task is "to foster safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic." [1] Since its establishment in 2015, the ACGF has been enabling the coast guards from each member state to cooperate towards common objectives. [2] The establishment of the ACGF is a response to the increasing levels of activities in the maritime domain in the Arctic, and with that associated need for coast guard services. [3]

Contents

The Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF)
Established30 October 2015
Member StatesCanada

Denmark

Finland

Iceland

Norway

Russia

Sweden

United States

Websitehttps://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/

History

As mentioned above, the level of maritime activity in the Arctic has been on the rise. Based on Andreas Østhagen, this trend is apparent in the number of vessels, which has been rising for the past 30 years. [4] Only in the period from 2013 to 2019, there was an increase of 25 percent in how many ships crossed the border of the Arctic Polar Code Area. [5] In the Arctic, an increase can be observed in multiple maritime areas, such as fisheries, transport of goods, as well as cruise ships. [6] This tendency, along with "an increased complexity of the maritime activities undertaken," put some pressure on coast guards, whose services such as "[s]earch and rescue (SAR), environmental protection (such as oil spill response) and aid to navigation" were much needed. [7]

Prior to establishing the ACGF, the eight states had already committed to cooperate in two agreements – in a 2011 agreement related to search and rescue operations, and in a 2013 agreement on preparedness for oil spills. However, coast guard cooperation needed to be advanced even further for the coast guards to meet the requirements of the new environment. As a result, the ACGF was established on 30 October 2015. [8] The establishment of the ACGF was inspired by the Atlantic and North Pacific Coast Guard Forums, which had already been in place. [9] Despite the similarities that exist between the ACGF and the Arctic Council, the ACGF is an independent organisation. [10]

Goals

The ACGF's goals can be divided into several areas. The overarching goals is cooperation. This encompasses cooperation between coast guards in the Arctic on a variety of maritime issues, but also cooperation between the ACGF and the Arctic Council. An example of cooperation is information sharing. [11]

The ACGF aims to foster cooperation on different areas related to the maritime domain. These include maritime environment, scientific research, safety on sea and responding to emergencies, local population, and Indigenous peoples. [12] Next to cooperation, another goal which can unite the diverse focus of the ACGF is the interest in sustainable development in the Arctic maritime domain. [13]

Members

Eight Arctic states are members of the ACGF, and they are identical to those of the Arctic Council. The members are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States. Some basic information about each member state is outlined in the table below.

Member stateName of participating agencyHeadquarters
Canada Canadian Coast Guard Ottawa
Denmark Joint Arctic Command Nuuk
Finland Finnish Border Guard Helsinki
Iceland Icelandic Coast Guard Reykjavik
Norway Norwegian Coast Guard Sortland, Vesteraalen and Northern Norway
Russian Federation Russian Coast Guard of the Federal Security Service Moscow
Sweden Swedish Coast Guard Karlskrona
United States U.S. Coast Guard Washington D.C.

(Self-made, with data from The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "Member states," accessed May 27, 2022, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/.)

Formal Structure

The ACGF is divided into three main bodies: the ACGF Chair, the Secretariat, and the working groups. The chairmanship rotates among the eight member states every two years, and the chair country is identical to the one of the Arctic Council (see Table). The chair country is responsible for the arrangement of meetings of the ACGF, which take place twice a year. [14]

Member statePeriod of chairmanship
Russian Federation2021-2023
Iceland2019-2021
Finland2017-2019
United States2015-2017

(Self-made, with data from The Arctic Council, "Past Chairmanships," accessed May 28, 2022, https://www.arctic-council.org/about/previous-chairmanships/.)

Past Exercises

Since its establishment, the focus of the ACGF has been on search and rescue operations. [15] Search and rescue capabilities are important in the environment of the Arctic along with the increasing levels of activity, as described in the "History" section. The emphasis on search and rescue operations is also apparent in the exercises the ACGF has so far organised. Besides the exercises described in this section, the ACGF has also conducted a simulator exercise in Finland in 2018. [16]

The Arctic Guardian 2017

The Arctic Guardian constitutes the first operative exercise of the ACGF. It took place between 5–9 September in Iceland with the aim to scrutinise the ability of the search and rescue units to work together as well as the communication between Maritime Rescue Command Centres. The scenario included a cruise ship in distress. The directly participating countries were Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and the United States. The exercise was observed by the three remaining member states, namely Finland, Sweden, and Russian Federation. [17]

Polaris 2019

Like the Arctic Guardian, Polaris was a coast guard exercise, but in addition to search and rescue, it also focused on the preparations for mass rescue operations, rescuing nearly three hundred cruise ship passengers as part of this exercise. A part of this exercise was also for example training in situations on sea that include fire. [18] Just like in the previous live exercise, communication was also trained here. Polaris took place on 2 April 2019 in Finland, and this time, all the eight member states participated in the exercise. [19]

Other planned exercises

After the Arctic Guardian in 2017 and Polaris in 2019, another exercise was planned for the Icelandic chairmanship and was supposed to take place in 2021. [20] However, it is most likely that this exercise was not executed based on the lack of information on the ACGF's website.

The ACGF as an informal organisation

On the ACGF's website, one of the adjectives used to describe the organisation is that it is informal. [21] The informality aspect of the organisation corresponds to a wider pattern in international politics, also outside the maritime domain. Christian Bueger argues that there has been a tendency to turn to "informal governance mechanisms" to deal with current issues on the world stage. [22] An organisation can be categorised as informal when it does not have "explicit rules, standardized procedures and . . . standing secretariats." [23] The ACGF does not state any rules that need to be followed by the organisation or the member state, and in its statement of cooperation, it is written that the ACGF is not based on a treaty. [24] Besides its regular meetings, which however were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the chairmanship structure adopted from the Arctic Council, the ACGF does not seem to follow any standardised procedures. [25] Finally, the ACGF has a secretariat, but there is no mention of the secretariat being permanent with a fixed location. [26] Therefore, not only does the ACGF self-identify as informal, but it also corresponds to the defining features of informality in organisations outlined by Bueger.

Informality of organisations is linked to the need to be innovative. [27] This corresponds to the coast guard cooperation in the form of the ACGF, which is a way to deal with the new challenges in an innovative way in the Arctic context. However, outside of the Arctic, similar structures had already been in place prior to the establishment of the ACGF, namely the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum established in 2007 [28] and the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum established in 2000. [29] The innovativeness of the ACGF should therefore be understood more narrowly as applying only to the Arctic. A benefit of informal organisations can be a greater flexibility and ability to adjust to changes than in formal organisations. [30] This means that the ACGF can better respond to the current needs in the Arctic maritime domain. The ACGF's effort to be prepared for the tasks that are likely to be in demand in the Arctic is apparent from their live exercises The Arctic Guardian 2017 and Polaris 2019 described above, as they covered search and rescue operations of cruise ships.

Limits to coast guard cooperation

The Arctic is often referred to as an example of an area where cooperation of states with Russia is possible. An explanation for the Arctic cooperation is that controversial areas are often avoided. For example, the Arctic Council promotes cooperation between Arctic states in areas related to the environment, indigenous peoples, research and similar, but military issues are explicitly not part of the agenda. [31] Since coast guards do not deal with defense but rather with "soft security" issues, one could argue that this should have a positive impact in terms of enabling coast guards to cooperate. [32] However, Østhagen still outlines some areas which make coast guard cooperation challenging. [33]

Upholding state sovereignty

Coast guard cooperation is limited by issues that fall under the agenda of coast guards that relate to state sovereignty. To explain, each state has the interest in protecting its sovereignty. Therefore, many of the areas of coastguards’ activity, "such as fisheries inspections or border patrol," would be problematic to cooperate on. [34] This means that it is not likely that such tasks would become a part of the agenda of the ACGF, and it thus constitutes a limit to the cooperation.

Lack of similarity of the agenda and formal organisation of the different coast guards

The second limitation addressed by Østhagen is that each participating state in the ACGF focuses on slightly different capabilities based on the need, which is closely affected by the state's location. Furthermore, some coast guards are a purely civilian agency, while others fall under the navy, which means that their tasks may also differ. For these reasons, cooperation can be difficult. [35]

Arctic and geography

Finally, there is the limitation of the Arctic environment, in terms of the geography. The distances between individual Arctic states are vast, which impedes the cooperation. [36]

Internal tensions in the Kingdom of Denmark - Greenland as a possible future member of the ACGF?

As evident from the list of member states, one of the member states of the ACGF is Denmark. Like in the case of the Arctic Council, Denmark can participate in these Arctic-focused organisations thanks to Greenland being a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. With an increasing international interest in the Arctic and changing environmental conditions that allow for more opportunities in the Arctic, certain tensions arise between Greenlandic hopes for independence and Denmark's strategic interest in participating in the discussions on the Arctic with the other world players. [37]

These internal tensions in the Kingdom could impact the ACGF as well. To explain, Denmark is represented in the ACGF by the Joint Arctic Command, which belongs to the Danish Defence. [38] Looking at the history, Greenland's first step towards greater autonomy dates to 1979, when the referendum about the Home Rule took place. The result of the Home Rule was the establishment of a "legislative and executive authorities in Greenland," like the Greenlandic parliament. [39] However, Denmark kept control of the domains that would be, from a realist perspective, considered as the most significant, the foreign and the security domain. [40]

In 2008, Greenland held a second referendum, a referendum on self-government, because of which more areas were moved from Danish authority to a Greenlandic one. However, foreign affairs and defense remained in the hands of Denmark. [41] Therefore, Greenland does not have its own army nor a coast guard. Nevertheless, there are signs from Greenlandic politicians of a hope that this might change, especially in the case of the coast guard, which is why the internal struggles are relevant in relation to the ACGF.

Greenlandic hopes for their own coast guard are apparent from an interview with the Greenlandic foreign minister Pele Broberg for a Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq. In the interview, Broberg expressed an interest in having a coast guard for Greenland. In the Danish system, the navy is responsible for the tasks typically performed by coastguards. What Broberg wishes for is the establishment of a new civilian authority that would take over these duties in Greenland. [42] Even though there is no indication of such a change taking place within the upcoming years, it is still relevant for the work of the ACGF as it could influence the membership in the organisation.

Related Research Articles

The politics of Greenland, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, function in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament Inatsisartut. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Greenland has full autonomy on most matters, except on policies and decisions affecting the region including negotiations with the devolved legislatures and the Folketing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military of Greenland</span> Responsibility of the Danish Armed Forces

The defence of Greenland is the responsibility of the Kingdom of Denmark; the government of Greenland does not have control of Greenland's military or foreign affairs. In the history of Greenland there have been many changes of presence regarding who is in charge of the security of Greenlandic people and its land.

Being part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the foreign relations of Greenland are handled in cooperation with the Danish government and the Government of Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast guard</span> Maritime security organization

A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue without law enforcement authority. In most countries, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from those of the navy and the transit police, while in certain countries they have similarities to both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Search and rescue</span> Search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger

Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs ; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Island</span> Island shared by Canada and Greenland, Denmark

Hans Island is an island in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic region, split between the Canadian territory of Nunavut and the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland. The island itself is barren and uninhabited with an area of 130 hectares, measuring 1,290 by 1,199 metres, and a maximum elevation of 168.17 m (551.7 ft). Its location in the strait that separates Ellesmere Island of Canada from northern Greenland was for years a border dispute, the so-called Whisky War between the two countries of Canada and Denmark. Hans Island is the smallest of three islands in Kennedy Channel off the Washington Land coast; the others are Franklin Island and Crozier Island. The strait at this point is 35 km (22 mi) wide, placing the island within the territorial waters of both Canada and Denmark (Greenland). A 1,280-metre-long (4,200 ft) border traverses the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island Command Greenland</span> Military unit

Island Command Greenland, or simply "GLK", was a Level.II authority responsible directly to the Defence Command. It was, among other things, responsible for the military defense of Greenland, maritime and sovereignty maintenance and enforcement, as well as search and rescue. Personnel assigned to the Danish liaison office at Thule Air Base (FOTAB) as well as the Sirius Patrol were also a part of the Greenland Command. Island Command Greenland was amalgamated with Island Command Faroes to a Joint Arctic Command on 31 October 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Council</span> Intergovernmental forum for the Arctic

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic region. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle, and these constitute the member states of the council: Canada; Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; Russia; Sweden; and the United States. Other countries or national groups can be admitted as observer states, while organizations representing the concerns of indigenous peoples can be admitted as indigenous permanent participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenland and the European Union</span> Diplomatic relations between the European Union and Greenland

Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark is one of the EU members’ overseas countries and territories (OCT) associated to the European Union. Greenland receives funding from the EU for sustainable development and has signed agreements increasing cooperation with the EU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Nordic Council</span>

The West Nordic Council is a cooperative forum for the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. It was initially founded in 1985 as the West Nordic Parliamentarian Council of Cooperation but the name was changed in 1997. The council is composed of six MPs from each nation appointed by their respective parliaments. The annual general meeting of the council rotates between the members and is its highest authority. A presidium of three members, including the council's president, oversees the organization of its work and activities.

The Ilulissat Declaration is a document signifying necessary joint regional efforts and responsibilities in response to the potentially adverse effects of climate change with regard to the melting Arctic ice pack.

The inaugural Arctic Ocean Conference was held in Ilulissat (Greenland) on 27-29 May 2008. Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States discussed key issues relating to the Arctic Ocean. The meeting was significant because of its plans for environmental regulation, maritime security, mineral exploration, polar oil oversight, and transportation. Before the conclusion of the conference, the attendees announced the Ilulissat Declaration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic cooperation and politics</span> Between the eight Arctic nations

Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The dominant governmental power in Arctic policy resides within the executive offices, legislative bodies, and implementing agencies of the eight Arctic nations, and to a lesser extent other nations, such as United Kingdom, Germany, European Union and China. NGOs and academia play a large part in Arctic policy. Also important are intergovernmental bodies such as the United Nations and NATO.

Sea transport accounts for most of the European Union's external and internal commerce. The EU is the world's third-largest importer of fisheries and aquaculture products and the fifth-largest producer. Maritime borders make up more than 70% of the Union's external borders, and hundreds of millions of travelers pass through European ports each year. The security of Europe's energy supply is heavily reliant on marine transit and infrastructure. The significant expansion of EU Member States' fleets, as well as suitable port infrastructure, contribute to a well-functioning energy market and supply security, and hence to European residents' and the European economy's overall well-being. The Arctic region is therefore a vital new area for the EU to work towards and a new strategy for the Arctic region that matches with the European Green deal was established in late 2021.

The Danish Maritime Authority is the agency of the Danish Government responsible for regulating and administrating Danish maritime affairs. The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) is part of the Ministry of Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs. The Agency consists of the central authority and eight vision offices, including the office in Nuuk and the Centre for Maritime Health on Fanø. Its headquarters are in Korsør.

Arctic Policy of Norway is Norway's foreign relations with other Arctic countries, and Norway's government policies on issues occurring within the geographic boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its people. Since Norway is itself an Arctic nation, the Arctic Policy of Norway includes its domestic policies as regards the Norwegian Arctic region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic policy of the Kingdom of Denmark</span> Danish foreign policy

The Arctic Policy of the Kingdom of Denmark defines the Kingdom's foreign relations and policies with other Arctic countries, and the Kingdom's strategy for the Arctic on issues occurring within the geographic boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its peoples. In order to clearly understand the Danish geopolitical importance of the Arctic, it is necessary to mention Denmark's territorial claims in areas beyond its exclusive EEZ in areas around the Faroe Islands and north of Greenland covering parts of the North Pole, which is also claimed by Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint Arctic Command</span> Military unit

The Joint Arctic Command is a direct Level II authority in the Danish Defence. Joint Arctic Command's primary mission in peacetime is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The command also handles tasks such as fisheries inspection, search and rescue (SAR), patient transport and other tasks that support the civil society. In short, the Joint Arctic Command handles military tasks, coast guard duties and disaster response - all in one organisation.

The Barents Sea is a secluded part of the Arctic Ocean divided between Norway and Russia. The politics in the Barents Sea is of paramount importance for the 2 countries relationship, showing both maritime conflict and maritime cooperation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Economic Council</span> Independent international business membership organisation

The Arctic Economic Council (AEC) is an independent international business membership organisation representing companies that work with and within the Arctic. The AEC advocates sustainable economic development in the region and represents a business perspective on sustainability. The AEC is the only regional business organisation in the Arctic and has members from all eight Arctic states.

References

  1. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, accessed May 27, 2022, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/.
  2. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is preparing for the first operative exercise, the Arctic Guardian 2017," August 4, 2017, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/arctic-coast-guard-forum-preparing-first-operative-exercise-arctic-guardian-2017.
  3. Andreas Østhagen, "Coastguards in peril: a study of Arctic defence collaboration," Defence Studies 15, no. 2 (2015): 143, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14702436.2015.1035949.
  4. Andreas Østhagen, "Arctic Coast Guards: Managing New Challenges?," in Grey and White Hulls: An International Analysis of the Navy-Coastguard Nexus, eds. Ian Bowers and Swee Lean Collin Koh (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 137.
  5. The Arctic Council, "First Arctic Shipping Status Report from Pame Working Group Highlights Increase in Arctic Shipping Traffic," April 14, 2020, https://www.arctic-council.org/news/first-arctic-shipping-status-report-increase-shipping-traffic/.
  6. Østhagen, "Arctic Coast Guards: Managing New Challenges?," 137.
  7. Andreas Østhagen, "The Arctic Coast Guard Forum: Big Tasks, Small Solutions," in Maritime Security Challenges: Focus High North: Papers from the Kiel Conference 2016, eds. Sebastian Bruns and Adrian J. Neumann (Kiel: Institute for Security Policy Kiel University, 2016), 3, https://www.ispk.uni-kiel.de/en/publications_old/proceedings/KC16_Proceedings.pdf#page=7.
  8. Andreas Østhagen, Coast Guards and Ocean Politics in the Arctic (Singapore: Palgrave Pivot, 2018), 66-7, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0754-0_6.
  9. Rebecca Pincus, "Commentary: The Arctic Coast Guard Forum: A Welcome & Important Step," in Arctic Yearbook 2015, eds. Lassi Heininen, Heather Exner-Pirot, and Joel Plouffe (Akureyri: Northern Research Forum, 2015), 390, http://www.arcticyearbook.com.
  10. Ibid.
  11. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "About ACGF," accessed May 27, 2022, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/about-acgf.
  12. Ibid.
  13. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "About ACGF."
  14. Ibid.
  15. Østhagen, "The Arctic Coast Guard Forum: Big Tasks, Small Solutions," 4.
  16. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "Arctic Coast Guard Forum’s Simulator Exercise in Turku, Finland," March 6, 2018, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/arctic-coast-guard-forums-simulator-exercise-turku-finland.
  17. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is preparing"; The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "The first operative exercise of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum (ACGF) will be held 5th-9th September 2017," September 1, 2017, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/first-operative-exercise-arctic-coast-guard-forum-acgf-will-be-held-5th-9th-september-2017.
  18. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "The Arctic Coast Guard Week marks the ned of the Finnish Chairmanship of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum," April 11, 2019, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/arctic-coast-guard-week-marks-end-finnish-chairmanship-arctic-coast-guard-forum.
  19. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "Live Exercise Polaris 2019," March 27, 2019, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/live-exercise-polaris-2019.
  20. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "The Arctic Coast Guard Week."
  21. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, "About ACGF."
  22. Christian Bueger, "Experimental Governance: Can the Lessons of the CGPCS be transferred to other policy fields?," in The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). Lessons learnt Compendium, ed. Thierry Tardy (Paris: EU Institute for Security Studies, 2014), 1, http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/Report_20_Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia.pdf.
  23. Ibid.
  24. The Arctic Council, "Arctic Council – Arctic Coast Guard Forum Statement of Cooperation," 2021, https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/2575/SAOIS203_2021_RVK-Virtual1_10_Arctic-Council-ACGF-Statement-of-Cooperation-_Final-Version.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
  25. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, accessed May 28, 2022, https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/.
  26. Ibid.
  27. Bueger, "Experimental Governance," 1.
  28. Government of Canada, "North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum," last modified February 11, 2020, https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/corporation-information-organisation/partnerships-partenariats/atlantic-forum-eng.html.
  29. Government of Canada, "North Pacific Coast Guard Forum," last modified July 26, 2019, https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/corporation-information-organisation/partnerships-partenariats/pacific-forum-eng.html.
  30. Sebastian Mayer, "Embedded Politics, Growing Informalization? How NATO and the EU Transform Provision of External Security," Contemporary Security Policy 32, no. 2 (2011): 324, doi : 10.1080/13523260.2011.590356
  31. Arctic Council, Declaration on the establishment of the Arctic Council, Ottawa, 1996. https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/85/EDOCS-1752-v2-ACMMCA00_Ottawa_1996_Founding_Declaration.PDF?sequence=5&isAllowed=y.
  32. Østhagen, "Coastguards in peril," 144.
  33. Ibid., 149.
  34. Ibid.
  35. Østhagen, "Coastguards in peril," 150-1.
  36. Ibid., 151.
  37. See Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, "’An Arctic Great Power’? Recent Developments in Danish Arctic Policy," in Arctic Yearbook 2016: The Arctic Council: 20 Years of Regional Cooperation and Policy-Shaping, eds. Lassi Heininen, Heather Exner-Pirot, and Joel Plouffe (Akureyri: Northern Research Forum, 2016), http://www.arcticyearbook.com.; Martin Breum, "Danmark som Arktis stormagt," Udenrigs, no. 1 (2016), https://doi.org/10.7146/udenrigs.v0i1.118205.; Marc Jacobsen, "Danmarks arktiske udenrigspolitik: regionale ambitioner og rigsfælleskabets komplikationer," Økonomi & Politik 94, no. 2 (2021), https://doi.org/10.7146/okonomiogpolitik.v94i2.127553.
  38. See Danish Defence, "Joint Arctic Command," accessed May 27, 2022, https://www.forsvaret.dk/en/organisation/joint-arctic-command/.
  39. Maria Ackrén, "Referendums in Greenland – From Home Rule to Self-Government," Fédéralisme 19, (2019): 4-5, https://popups.uliege.be/1374-3864/index.php?id=1892.
  40. Ibid., 5.
  41. Ibid., 7.
  42. Michael Wenger, "A own coast guard for Greenland?," Polar Journal, May 25, 2021, https://polarjournal.ch/.