Oral Answers to Questions

Callum Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)]

3. What diplomatic steps she is taking to help Greenland strengthen its security.

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

7. What diplomatic steps her Department is taking to support security in the Arctic region.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)]

As I set out in the House yesterday, we continue to support the people of Greenland and to make it clear that the future of Greenland is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes alone. We are working to increase the support for security across the Arctic region, which is why I visited Norway and Finland this week.

[Yvette Cooper]

The UK works with our NATO allies, some of whom are part of the EU and some of whom—like us, and like Norway, where some of our closest partnerships are—are not. This is about strengthening our Arctic security, because the Arctic is the gateway through which the Russian northern fleet can threaten the UK, Europe, the US and Canada. Arctic security is a transatlantic security issue.

[Callum Anderson]

I thank the Foreign Secretary for her statement yesterday. I welcome the renewed recognition of the Arctic’s strategic importance to Europe’s collective security, and of the need for NATO to develop a more credible deterrence posture. Will she provide a further update to the House on how the Government are using their diplomatic influence in NATO to drive a more coherent, long-term strategy for Arctic security, rather than relying on individual national responses?

[Yvette Cooper]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s question. We have proposed a stronger role for NATO on Arctic security. Just as NATO has a successful Baltic Sentry and an Eastern Sentry, we are arguing for an Arctic sentry that co-ordinates operations and intelligence for countries right across the Arctic, and also countries like the UK, which are heavily affected by Arctic security, even though we are not part of Arctic security. That is why we are substantially increasing our presence in northern Norway and working with Norway on new, groundbreaking frigates.