Federation Council members criticize idea to make Northern Sea Route international

Federation Council file photo

MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Russian presidential envoy for international cooperation in the Arctic and Federation Council member Artur Chilingarov has objected to making the Northern Sea Route an international route, and Federation Council member Yury Neyolov has proposed expanding Russia’s Arctic area by adding a number of regions to it.

“Options for providing different kinds of assistance to Russia in developing the Arctic are being actively discussed nowadays, and some are trying eagerly to push ahead with the idea of turning the Northern Sea Route into an international route. Such trends are extremely dangerous for Russia and affect its national security,” Chilingarov said at a meeting of the Arctic Council on Tuesday.

The Arctic Council members gathered at the Federation Council on Tuesday to discuss a strategy of the development of Russia’s Arctic Area and its effect on national security for the period up to 2020 and a bill on Russia’s Arctic area.

Chilingarov argued that Russia’s Arctic area is of exceptional geo-strategic and military-strategic significance for the country, where “defense and economic aspects are intertwined at their maximum.”

“The military-strategic situation in the Arctic is viewed as stable, controllable and predictable,” Chilingarov said.

Neyolov, a former governor of the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, proposed expanding Russia’s Arctic area, which currently covers about 17% of Russia’s territory.

“The Arctic area should be expanded by including the entire Murmansk region, a number of districts of Karelia, and also Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Vorkuta, Igarka and a number of districts of the Republic of Yakutia,” Neyolov said at the debates at the Federation Council.

He suggested that this should be stipulated by a bill on Russia’s Arctic area currently being drafted by the government.

Comment