NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is travelling to the Canadian Arctic on Thursday (25 August 2022) as part of a three-day visit hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and accompanied by Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Defence Minister Anita Anand, Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, and Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre. The Secretary General’s visit serves to underline the High North’s strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic security, especially in the context of a rapidly warming climate and rising geostrategic competition. The trip marks the first time a NATO Secretary General has visited Canada’s Arctic.
On Thursday (25 August 2022), Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Trudeau and their delegations are visiting the community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. They will tour one of the sites of the North Warning System, an early-warning radar system and a key component of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
They are also visiting the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, a state of the art research facility specialising in Arctic science and technology innovation. While in Cambridge Bay, the Secretary General and the Prime Minister are also meeting with local community leaders and members of the Canadian Armed Forces deployed in the Arctic as part of Canada’s Operation Nanook.
On Friday, the Secretary General and Prime Minister Trudeau will travel to 4 Wing Cold Lake, a Canadian Armed Forces fighter air base located in Cold Lake, Alberta.