Recommendation 72

Russian sub-threshold activity around the Svalbard archipelago, located halfway between Norway and the North Pole, represents a particular set of challenges for Norway and its allies. Norway has full sovereignty over Svalbard, but the 1920 Svalbard Treaty 82 gives all 46 states Parties equal rights of access and commercial exploitation on land and in Svalbard’s territorial waters. Article 9 of the treaty prohibits naval bases on the archipelago and any other fortifications for “warlike purposes”.