Viktor Bondarev, Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council, called the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Barents Euro-Arctic Regional Council (BEAC) a logical step. The politician published the relevant post at: telegram channel.
According to Bondarev, the Russian Federation is not interested in membership in structures that are “disrespected, whose rights are restricted or openly bullied.”
“The Council has been a useful and effective format for cooperation in the Arctic for 30 years, but now this mechanism has stopped working due to the fault of the Scandinavian countries, which are part of the aggressive NATO bloc,” the senator said.
At the same time, he emphasized that Russia does not pose a military threat to the Scandinavian countries and can independently pursue its interests in the Arctic, despite the risk of competition with its neighbors.
“Russia is quite capable of unilaterally pursuing its interests in the Arctic. <..> Russia has the largest icebreaker fleet in the world and is capable of independently securing its interests in the Arctic region, we control the Northern Sea Route and have huge natural resources in the Arctic region. “That’s why our position is winning,” he said.
The senator also expressed confidence that the BEAC countries will return to cooperation with the Russian Federation and “will not leave us anywhere” because Russia is a “too profitable” partner for cooperation.
18 September Russia announced On withdrawal from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that since March 2022, due to the fault of the Western members of the council (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, EU), the activities of the council have been almost paralyzed and the Finnish presidency is ready to transfer the leadership of the BEAC to Russia in October 2023 did not verify, which means the rotation principle is broken.
Previously in the USA spoke For the reform of the UN Security Council.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.