France in the Arctic

France is not an Arctic state, but it has been present in the region longer than most. Dr. Florian Vidal, senior researcher at UiT's Center for Geopolitics, Peace and Security, joins us to map the shape of that presence and the direction it is now taking.

Much of France's standing in the Arctic rests on science. French polar research goes back to the 19th century, and the station at Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, operated jointly with the Alfred Wegener Institute, continues to anchor that footprint. Around it runs a tradition of climate diplomacy that successive governments have used to claim a leadership role on the environmental future of the region.

The defence picture is newer, and moving faster. French naval deployments in Arctic waters are increasing, bilateral ties with Denmark, Finland and Norway are being reinforced, and NATO has emerged as one of the key structures through which France's contribution is organised. Vidal works through what it means that France holds the only nuclear deterrent inside the European Union, and how this has begun to signal that this protection could extend to European partners willing to engage.

Greenland threads through the conversation. As transatlantic relations have wobbled, France has been unusually visible there: the first EU member state to open a consulate general, a small military unit sent to take part in Danish-led exercises, and a strategic agreement between the French National Geological Survey and the Greenlandic Department of Geology on critical minerals.

Looking further out, Vidal weighs concerns over Russian force posture on the Kola Peninsula and possible spillover from the Baltic against longer-term issues like the Greenland ice sheet and its consequences for the AMOC. He closes with a frank point: if France wants a reliable position in the polar regions, it has to commit to invest.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back to our podcast. Today we will be covering France in the Arctic. And to do so, we have an expert we could say on France in the Arctic, uh, Dr. Florian Vidal, your senior researcher at UIT at the Center for Peace and Security. Thank you for coming here.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Thank you for welcoming and uh this uh interesting hope hopefully uh discussion on France and and trying to give for the audience what's France's uh aims and a bit maybe history about what France uh has been done until uh until today in the Arctic.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

How would you say that the French positioning on the Arctic is? What is it that constitutes the French Arctic policy?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah, well, of course we have a long history that connect France and the polar regions uh through the different scientific expeditions for since the 19th century and then through the 20th centuries. But uh today, I mean in the recent decades, one of the main drivers has been science. We um we have this scientific uh station in Null Olsen in Svalbard that we uh manage with our German colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute. So we have this long history of uh French scientific uh activities in the polar region, so it includes both the Arctic and the Antarctic. That has been the the prime, I would say, interests uh for France. But uh then we expand uh our interest. One has been tend to be like a priority for for a certain time. It's the impact of climate change in the region, the environmental uh transformation that we are seeing uh up north. French is uh French has the French government and and and and the different uh actually present in uh in place, they used to have this strong commitments to have this kind of leadership when it comes to climate change. Of course, we can uh I can remember that uh France organized this COP 15 in Paris in uh uh in 20 uh15. So that was the major event that France welcomed at that time. And interestingly, during that time, during this uh these two weeks of negotiation, there is some side events organized around the Arctic. So so so it it was included in this uh in this approach. So we have this stronger science diplomacy and climate climate diplomacy that France tried to advance and argue with the other art, I mean with the Arctic states and try to work together on this topic and of course at the European level. And the third priority and that has been moving, of course, in in the last I would say in the last decades, it's the uh military dimension. There is a growing French activities in the Arctic seas. Um it is of the first is the commitment that uh the Arctic Ocean is an ocean for free for navigation, and this is a kind of commitment that actually aligns with the with the French allies, like the US and and the other Arctic states. So this is the kind of strong commitments from France regarding the um its uh allies in the in the Arctic region.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

And I mean speaking of the allies and the other states, how does how would you say France positions itself compared to, for example, you've been researching Italy and Spain. How would France position itself towards those in the Arctic? And uh and also related to Alliance Pacific, would you say that France is showing its military interest, showing its military interest in the Arctic through these bilateral or trilateral formats, or is it through the NATO umbrella?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

The one of the I would say one of the I was distinctions with our uh colleagues in in Spain in Italy, um it's both Spain and Italy have built um a strong and I would say consistent uh polar policy. For a very long time uh tried to develop its own Arctic strategy, so disconnected uh from the Antarctic policy, while Spain and and Italy built this polar uh policy connecting both Antarctica and the Arctic for a very long time. So you you can see some uh consistences from those uh two countries in Europe and France tried to reframe in the last uh four four or five years. We have thought about our Arctic strategy, which will include both the Arctic and the Antarctic. And now what is interesting when it comes to the Arctic properly in terms of strategy, it is clear that the military dimension that what kind of contribution France can bring to its allies in the in the region, the military, particularly the navy, is probably one of the main assets advantage that that France can bring. And of course the deterioration of the geopolitical landscape in both in Europe and in the Arctic region makes France having a stronger rule. And of course, it's interesting how France tried to frame its relations with the with its allies. There is a growing bilateral uh relations that's flourishing between France and the Kingdom of Denmark, but as well between France and Finland and France and Norway. So they take this more bilaterally, but it's framed within the NATO context as well. So you have these different layers, the bilateral layers, so you have this kind of the bilateral format for discussion where you have a lot of exchange uh between the between our different partners. But then you have of course in terms of uh to operationalize or contribution in the in the Arctic, NATO becomes of course the main framework for this cooperation. And and for example, concrete example, France used to participate in many military exercises in the northern Norway, like with the call response and and and similar kind of military exercises. So we are and this kind of exercises of course under the frame of NATO uh and and and and and other allies that can be associated. And now in the context we have Sweden and Finland part of NATO, it makes even more sense that NATO is a stakeholder that in which France can move in and develop from this framework more deeper connections with the Nordics, but as well as with with the Canadians. So we have all as well this uh these strong bilateral connections.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

You mentioned NATO and how France is increasingly communicating with uh Denmark and then would exert its influence and also in Greenland. How would you say that France positions itself by using this Greenland situation as a case, but also in general in Arctic geopolitics, in this especially like this tense landscape with uh relations with the US?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

What is quite fascinating, I must say, is how France uh has uh in a way succeeded to take the leadership when it comes to the uh Greenlandic issue and the and this strong, I would say turbulent uh moment in the transatlantic relations. France has has developed a very interesting diplomatic approach with the Kingdom of Denmark. Of course, we have this really strong connection now between Paris and Copenhagen, but in the same time is committed to uh support the integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and is really active in Greenland and in uh in February. France officially opened its general consulate uh and actually it's the first uh European Union state to do this. So France and and during the crisis when we have this uh um deployment of European troops on Greenland in in order to show uh commitments of the European partners vis-a-vis the Kingdom of Denmark. France has been leading in a way this movement for actually France. In the first episode of these tensions in January 2025, when Trump uh made uh a strong statement that he wants to take over Greenland somehow, France tried to convince the Danish authority that we can help you. We can help you to show uh give you uh reassurance about uh the your the integrity of your of your kingdom and to protect of any kind of external threats. And for a long time uh Danish government tried to keep this uh matter as a bilateral uh issue between the between the kingdom of Denmark and and the US. But with this second round this year, I guess that the Danish authorities uh understood that maybe having this extra strength coming from uh the EU would be quite useful to create some leverage in and with and and balance uh of power with the US, which was needed, I guess. And now France, when it comes to Greenland, has of course not only this diplomatic and and kind of even military coordinates because we deployed this small units, uh 15 military personnel had been deployed during this uh um exercises that has been organized by the Danish. But it it has as well some economic interest. France is of course, like the European Union, very interesting to secure these critical minerals in Greenland. And uh interestingly, earlier this month, it was the beginning of March, I think in it was in Canada actually, in Toronto, there is a kind of fair trade conference and meeting, and the French National Geological Survey signed a strategic agreement with the department, the Greenlandic Department of Geology. So France is going to help and to the Greenlandic to develop and to understand, of course, the geological potential regarding the critical minerals. So you have this ongoing developments and uh and uh and and France as well try to help as well the scientific community. So we have different funding programs regarding Greenland. There is a very it's it's it's very interesting how this dynamic between France and Greenland is this dynamic is developing. It's it's quite interesting and and a bit fascinating because for France now we have some kind of way to increase our position uh in the Arctic and and and expand our world in our of course in our capacities. Because for now our main role is based on our military capabilities and since within the European Union we are the only nuclear power, it is very important. And if we combine with um the French president Macron had made this very important uh statements and doctrine regarding the French nuclear policy, allowing the possibility to expand the nuclear protection, I would say, or shield to some any European partner interesting to get this uh this uh protection. When it comes for the Nordic countries, for example, it can become very strategic and interesting to have this potential strategic alliance with this uh with this nuclear umbrella. This is something as well for the Arctic interesting due to the ongoing situation with the two uh Arctic nuclear powers, namely Russia and and the US. So that's that was something one of I guess the main uh contribution. Uh it's clearly the security uh driver.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

With both uh Russia and the United States in their own separate wars in their spheres of interest, the Arctic is really facing a very uncertain future. And you mentioned this French uh possibility to contribute in terms of security as one of the primary drivers. My question to you is that how much room is it really for this contribution in the future? Is it one thing is the nuclear umbrella, of course, but are there any is it easy for France to just come in to the Nordic countries, for example, and say, hey, we will protect you? Or are there power struggles there?

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Um probably humbly uh really state that of course it it we will just uh be there based on the willingness on our uh Arctic partners. Of course, we cannot pretend to do like yeah, we are coming and uh hey you have to welcome us and we are here to protect you from the US or from Russia. No, it's not happening, it's not it won't happen that way. It's more about uh if Nordic countries or even Canada they are open to get more uh help from from France, and of course, in the at the French capacity, we don't of course we we we are not uh we are not a superpower. France should most modestly uh state that we are a middle power, like the other European powers, and and maybe one of the drivers as well, because for a long time France has been advocating for this uh strategic autonomy and uh and and in light of what's going on in our transatlantic relations. Now this strategic autonomy is quite well received. Uh it is very important that uh that the French uh doesn't claim hey, we're right all along. No, I think we need really to be humbly that's uh that we just show you a path. Uh well we see we are seeing what we are seeing now, and maybe it should be worth considering to maybe expand our autonomization in terms of defense and security. And of course, France is really eager, in fact, to integrate other partners. And one of the interesting developments in that in that matter when it comes to the Arctic security is the growing connections between the UK and and France. Because it's not only about the Arctic, it's the connection between the Arctic and the North Atlantic area. And this is a matter of national security for both UK and France. So that's in my perception, this kind of commitments, but not only France, it will be a combination of European states, and of course we are seeing as well Germany being more uh willing to participate. And then we we we saw, for example, that Germany deployed uh its military vessels uh after uh the Russian invasion on Ukraine in in 2022 to help to secure and and monitoring uh critical infrastructure in the Northern Sea and because you have all the oil and gas uh infrastructure that is from a critical importance for Norway but for the European states.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

So it's very very important to maintain that form of cooperation. What would what would you say are the main tension points that France will need to take into account for future of Arctic geopolitics? Are there anything that, for example, is a threat or is a possible problem but is not addressed? Or vice versa, something that is addressed but is not really as big of a problem as they would say it is.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

I guess of course we uh I mean the geopolitical landscape in the Arctic and I would say more properly is moving very fast, it's it's so quickly that it's very I mean one of the main issues for from French perspective is how to anticipate this shifting dynamics. And then of course the main concern I mean for France is uh how uh the Russian um on the reinstall some sort of deterrence after this important loss from the conventional forces, particularly in the Kolar Peninsula. So, how the Russian army will address and try to rebalance because this is now from the Russian perspective, this is the main issue. Because since Finland and Sweden is part of NATO, then you have this unbalanced situation, and and that will of course make create some tensions between the Nordics and Russia, and of course, one of the main uh issue that has been I mean there is a lot of discussion for for over a decade actually about this connection between the Baltic and the Byron Sea. Uh and of course the spillover effect. If there is some military tensions between one Baltic state and Russia, we know that it there will be this uh uh very there is a high probability for the spillover effect. And then in that situation, France can anticipate to avoid uh this uh uh military escalation in the in the world uh region. Um and then there is another layer because we talk about geopolitics and and it's more uh short or middle terms, but then we have our long-term issues when it comes to the Arctic, and uh it will be very interesting because France, the main contribution looks with the military security dimension in the Arctic, but still the main contribution remains science. And one of the main concerning issues that connect science and security is the situation with the ice sheet melting in Greenland, which affects the AMOC, this famous ocean currents that give us Gulf Stream and we have a rather reasonable climate and not that extreme like North America. And interestingly, you have this first Iceland that mentioned this is a security issue. And this is very concerning because it's not only about the Arctic State, it's it's the world Europe. And this is uh this kind of long-term issue that we should address as at the European level because then it needs anticipation and an adaptation, because this is a kind of process, it's very uncertain, but we need to be prepared for such uncertainties. So that will uh of course have a have a strong uh long-term impact. But I think this is a kind of contribution in terms of thinking and and uh and planning for long term must should be really considered since France is kind of committed for this climate diplomacy. So maybe this is as well another role and not only about military that France can play into the future.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

I mean climate catastrophe is a security question, no matter how much we want it uh or not. But okay, my last question to you then. Imagine that you are sitting in the in a very central position in the French government. You are you are responsible for not only everything Arctic, but you are responsible for everything polar. What you say, it will be done. What do you want to do? What are the policies you want to develop? What do you want to change? What are the recommendations? How they're implemented.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

It's probably we need more funding, money. Because for the scientist for the science, well, our main struggle and uh and it's it's very difficult for France uh to in the long run to have a strong and reliable uh position in in the polar region if we don't commit ourselves to invest. Uh either for developing new scientific bases, for example in Greenland, that can be an option, or increase research in in different domains, or uh participated, but again, maybe not individually, but with our European partners to increase our capabilities for monitoring, like in outer space, for monitoring climate and for communication. There is many types of activities that we can develop, but clearly one of the one of the things, and it's maybe a process that is uh um is in development uh in France, but it needs to be sustained and and be really reliable. Uh it's to completely unify uh our uh research units both from the Arctic and and the Art Arctic. I spent uh last year uh some time in Japan and I can say that the way Japan has organized these uh polar research institute that actually uh have an overview, complete overview of all researchers in all Japanese universities is very fascinating. So, of course, there are some changes, but still the level of investment uh that's the kind of level France should think, I guess, if we are we if we want to pretend to be a strong polar nation.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

I really like it when you put a scientist into government and then the scientists say give amount of money to science. But it is uh but it is true though. I mean it's it's the core, it's our knowledge. No, but you know, Florin, it's been fantastic, and especially considering that you are researching many things that are also not France in the Arctic, it's outer space, Russia, everything. It's been it's been fantastic to have you here to talk about France.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

But thank you for welcoming. It was a great pleasure as well.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Yeah, and thank you for listening.