Norway plans to introduce military police on remote Arctic island

MILAN — The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has presented a draft proposal for regulations on the possible expansion of military police authority on the remote Norwegian Arctic island of Jan Mayen.

The motion, which is open to stakeholder input until next month, would extend the geographical scope of Norway’s existing military police law to include Jan Mayen.

According to the Norwegian authorities, the change is necessary due to an uncertain security landscape facing the country, combined with the possibility of a future increase in Norwegian and allied presence in the area.

The uninhabited Norwegian volcanic island, located in the Arctic Ocean, is roughly 300 miles (500 kilometers) east of Greenland. It serves as a combined meteorological and military outpost, with a small, rotating presence of Norwegian armed forces personnel.

It hosts the Jan Mayensfield, an airstrip used for occasional military flights or transporting personnel and supplies to the island stations.

Under the Military Police Act, a “military area can be established and enforced on the island – as an officer in the Armed Forces, the station commander there will also have authority to intervene to maintain security and prevent or stop law violations,” the document submitted by the Norwegian authorities said.

In February, the country announced plans to build a new undersea fiberoptic data connection linking Norway’s mainland with the Arctic islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen.

In 2020, a visit to the tiny island by a squadron of U.S. Air Force staff sparked issues with Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. Air Force personnel were examining the airfield to assess whether C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes could land there. In an interview with Reuters, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it believed the visit was “alarming” and part of Norway’s increased military activity aimed at Russia and destabilizing the region.

Countries whose territories include remote Arctic locales have begun to treat these places as potential flashpoints in a warming region.

A report published last month by the Arctic Institute warned that Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean located between mainland Norway and the North Pole, was vulnerable to a potential confrontation with Russia.

However, Moscow is not the only security threat to the region identified by Scandinavian countries. Last week, Denmark labeled the United States for the first time as a potential security concern in its annual intelligence report, following President Donald Trump’s expressed interest in taking control of Greenland.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——挪威国防部提出了一项关于扩大挪威偏远北极岛屿扬马延岛上军事警察权力的法规草案。

该动议将扩大挪威现行军事警察法的地理范围，使其涵盖扬马延岛，并接受利益相关者的意见，截止日期为下个月。

挪威当局表示，由于该国面临不确定的安全形势，以及挪威及其盟国未来在该地区的存在可能会增加，因此有必要做出这一改变。

这座位于北冰洋的挪威无人居住的火山岛，位于格陵兰岛以东约 500 公里（300 英里）处。它既是气象站又是军事哨所，挪威武装部队人员在此轮流驻守。

岛上设有 Jan Mayensfield 机场，该机场用于偶尔的军事飞行或向岛上各基地运送人员和物资。

根据《军事警察法》，“可以在岛上建立和执行军事区域——作为武装部队的军官，驻扎在那里的指挥官也有权进行干预，以维护安全并防止或制止违法行为，”挪威当局提交的文件称。

今年 2 月，该国宣布计划修建一条新的海底光纤数据连接线，将挪威大陆与北极的斯瓦尔巴群岛和扬马延岛连接起来。

2020 年，美国空军一个中队的人员访问了这个小岛，引发了与俄罗斯外交部的争端。

美国空军人员正在勘察该机场，以评估C-130J“超级大力神”军用运输机是否能够在此降落。俄罗斯外交部在接受路透社采访时表示，他们认为此次访问“令人震惊”，是挪威针对俄罗斯、旨在破坏地区稳定的军事行动的一部分。

领土包含偏远北极地区的国家已经开始将这些地方视为气候变暖地区的潜在冲突爆发点。

北极研究所上个月发布的一份报告警告说，位于挪威大陆和北极之间的北冰洋群岛斯瓦尔巴群岛容易受到与俄罗斯潜在冲突的影响。

然而，莫斯科并非北欧国家认定的唯一安全威胁。上周，丹麦在其年度情报报告中首次将美国列为潜在安全隐患，此前美国总统唐纳德·特朗普曾表示有意控制格陵兰岛。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。