Canada urges NATO to make Arctic Sentry permanent

Canada's foreign minister Anita Anand urged NATO to make the newly launched Arctic Sentry initiative permanent at the Arctic 360 conference in Toronto, while NATO said the initiative will coordinate allied activity in the Far North and be headquartered at its military command in Norfolk, Va.

Canada's foreign minister Anita Anand urged NATO on Wednesday to make the newly launched Arctic Sentry initiative a permanent part of alliance activity. She spoke as the keynote speaker at the Arctic 360 conference in Toronto. NATO's supreme commander announced Arctic Sentry will provide overall coordination of allied activities in the Far North. Allied officials have said the initiative is framed to address Russian and Chinese activity and follows earlier U.S. concerns about Greenland's defence. Key points: - Anita Anand asked NATO allies and the secretary-general to treat Arctic Sentry as a collective, permanent effort. - NATO's supreme commander said Arctic Sentry will coordinate allied activities in the Far North, including Danish exercises in Greenland and Norway's Cold Response drill. - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the initiative will bring Arctic activities together under one command to identify and fill gaps. - Arctic Sentry will be headquartered at NATO's military command in Norfolk, Virginia. - Anand did not specify what Canadian military resources would be committed, and it is unclear whether exercises such as Operation Nanook would fall under NATO's activities. - Officials said the initiative is intended to guard against Russian and Chinese activity and was prompted in part by prior U.S. concerns about Greenland. Summary: The initiative centralizes NATO's Arctic efforts and has prompted Canada to press for a permanent role within the alliance structure. Canada has not specified what military resources it would provide and it remains unclear how national exercises will be integrated. NATO defence ministers are meeting and the scope of the initiative and national contributions remain undetermined at this time.