The European Union and the Emerging Arctic Security Landscape

The European Union’s (EU) ever-evolving role as a foreign and security actor is currently being reshaped by a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, marked most significantly by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the current disruptions of the transatlantic relationship. While long defined by its soft power tools, internal diversity, and preference for multilateralism, the EU has found itself increasingly confronted with demands to de-velop a more assertive security posture. This shift is occurring not only in its eastern and southern neighbourhood but increasingly also in its northern backyard – the Arctic, a region that is presently (re-)emerging as a space of geopolitical competition. While the region has traditionally been marginal in, it now intersects with broader concerns over hybrid threats, energy dependence, climate change, and critical infrastructure—all areas where both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maintain significant (partly overlapping or complementary) competencies.