Next player on Arctic arena – Scotland
The Arctic with its possibilities for mineral extraction, shipping and fisheries will become an important issue for an independent Scotland, a pro-independence MP in the British Parliament says.
Angus Robertson, a prominent MP in the British Parliament and a leading member of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, has issued a call for Scotland to embrace its long-latent “Nordic” identity and to join with neighboring Norway and nearby Iceland — as well as Canada and all other Arctic nations — to “properly engage with our wider geographic region” Canada.com writes.
A referendum of the Scottish electorate on the issue of independence from the United Kingdom is planned to be held in either 2014 or 2015.
Arctic sea traffic and a more northward military focus would absolutely be a priority for an independent Scotland, Robertson says, adding that looming prospect of new northern shipping routes is not something the U.K. authorities do not pay much attention to.
Robertson argues that British neglect of the North’s potential is damaging Scotland’s future economic prospects at a time when “our neighbours’ multilateral engagement” on Arctic issues “is extremely serious and they are working closely together.”
Citing opportunities such as oil-and-gas development, mineral extraction, shipping and the emergence of new fisheries, Robertson said SNP leaders are thinking about the challenges ahead of the independence referendum and predicted the massive changes impacting on the High North and Arctic will become a significant feature of the years and decades ahead in Scottish politics.
Both Angus Robertson and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who leads the pro-independence SNP majority government in Scotland’s legislature, recently have made visits to Norway. After meetings with officials in Oslo last year, Robertson called on the British government to bolster its commitment to RAF Lossiemouth, a military base in his constituency on Scotland’s northern coast, arguing that this base allows easy and cost-effective transit to and from Norway and a capability commitment able to address the challenges facing the Arctic and the High North.
