Recommendation 156

Many stakeholders we spoke to on our visit to Norway and Finland drew attention to the April 2023 Russia-China memorandum of understanding on strengthening maritime law enforcement co-operation between the Chinese Coast Guard and the FSB Border Guard Service (Russia’s border guards and coastguard are under the authority of the FSB, the internal security service). 180 To date, there has not been any Chinese military or coastguard activity in the European Arctic. Any Chinese military or coastguard presence in the Barents Sea would be perceived by the European Arctic states as a serious security challenge. 181