ARCTIC: Europe Sends Troops to Greenland & more – 20th Jan 2026

Haluu from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 20th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

We can only begin this show with the continuing saga between US President Donald Trump and his desire to annex Greenland, which we have been covering in recent episodes.

The opposition to the US government’s threats toward Greenland has been strong. On Thursday the 15th, the BBC reported that military deployments from France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK have all been sent to Greenland, making it clear that the country’s defence is a priority for NATO nations.

Greenlanders themselves are making their feelings known too. On Saturday the 17th, The Daily Telegraph wrote that earlier that day, a large protest of thousands of Greenlanders erupted in the capital city, Nuuk. Among the chants and banners were statements such as Greenland is not for sale and Yankee go home, making the anti-US sentiments very clear as the political tensions continue to grow.

Trump isn’t taking international opposition to his goals lightly though. He wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday the 17th, that the US government will be hitting every nation that supports Greenland with a ten percent tariff on all goods exported to the US from February. He specified that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The UK, The Netherlands, and Finland are all the subjects of his ire, and that if they do not withdraw their support for Greenland, this tariff will increase to twenty-five percent in June.

Greenland may not be the only Arctic nation feeling the looming shadow of American annexation. According to a report by Politico, on Tuesday the 13th, Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, told US lawmakers that Iceland will become the fifty-second U.S. state, with himself serving as governor.

These comments sparked a huge outcry in Iceland, with the Icelandic Foreign Ministry announcing on Thursday the 15th that it had asked the US embassy in Reykjavik for an explanation for these remarks.

Long spoke with Arctic news outlet, Arctic Today, on the 15th and formally apologized for his remarks, saying that he was joking with friends and hopes he can work with Icelanders soon.

The escalating tensions in the Arctic have prompted the Russian government to warn of war. On Thursday the 15th, Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian Senator, said that if the US were to take control of Greenland and place nuclear strike facilities on the island, it could spark World War III, with the Arctic becoming the new theater of war. Rogozin said that the US may believe that capturing Greenland would result in nuclear superiority over Russia and China, but that would be the beginning of the end of the world.

How Russia will react to American action in Greenland is an important question. On Thursday the 15th, legal academics Jan Jakub Solski and Ingrid Solstad Andreassen wrote a piece for The Arctic Institute where they predict the likelihood of Russia annexing the Norwegian islands of Svalbard following an American takeover of Greenland.

The piece outlines that Russia may not follow in American footsteps, and instead take the opportunity to rehabilitate its image as a champion of international law. The authors believe that if Norway focuses on cooperating with Russia, it could avoid escalating any further conflict in the High North.

Wanna read the full piece? Link in the show notes.

Russia has its own existing wars to worry about though, which are taking their toll on vulnerable Russians from the north. On Wednesday the 14th, the Arctic news agency, The Barents Observer, reported that in several north Russian villages, military recruiters are targeting men with alcohol problems, plying them with liquor, and then forcing them to sign military contracts.

The Barents Observer spoke with relatives of the men, who tell stories of how their husbands and sons disappear in the night after being approached by recruiters. Some of these men are then sent to the frontline and killed in their first skirmish.

The war in Ukraine continues to disproportionately affect northern Russians, who are targeted by recruiters instead of more wealthy southerners.

The Arctic has birthed many wonderful artists who are creating important work to stand against the tide of war. On Wednesday the 14th, the Canadian record label, Six Shooter Records, announced that the acclaimed Inuit artist, Tanya Tagaq will be releasing an anti-war album on the 6th of March.

Entitled Saputjiji, which means designated protector, blends traditional throat singing with military instrumentals to tell a story of Inuit resistance in their northern homeland.

Amid all this dour talk of destruction, there is still room for protecting the Arctic. On Saturday the 17th, the High Seas Treaty, a worldwide effort to establish legal protections across the world’s oceans, came into force. The World Wildlife Foundation wrote a piece on Friday the 16th about how this will help the Arctic.

This treaty will apply to the Central Arctic Ocean, the area around the North Pole that is permanently frozen, at least for now. Before the treaty came into effect, legal responsibilities in the Arctic were divided among many independent organizations. But now rules governing every aspect of ocean business and conservation will be brought together under one roof. This will make protection efforts easier, and make punishing those who damage the Arctic legally sound.

The need for environmental protection is strong, with reindeer in Norway facing a very difficult winter. Broadcaster, NRK, wrote on Wednesday the 14th that Sami reindeer herders in northern Norway are calling this winter the worst in living memory for their reindeer.

The problem is the severely fluctuating weather: mild spells bring rain, followed by a cold spell that freezes it. This locks away the reindeer's food beneath an impenetrable wall of ice, leaving them to starve.

Sami herders now face a tough decision. To buy expensive food supplies, sell their reindeer, or hope for the best.

A Sami community in Sweden is facing a battle over building a bridge for their reindeer to help in these tough winters. Swedish broadcaster SVT wrote on Wednesday the 14th that the Tuorpon Sami village wants to build a bridge over the Gamájåhkå river, which will cut their reindeer migration routes in half.

However, local landowners are resisting the construction. Two landowners have complained to the local government, saying they haven’t been consulted on the matter even though it involves land they own. As the river is a source of drinking water, they say any construction could pose a real contamination threat.

The government has a decision to make now over how best to serve its indigenous community while protecting the water they need.

Unlocking the secrets of the remote north needs inventive ideas. As reported by Alaska Public Media on Tuesday the 13th, scientists from Washington State University fitted video cameras to twelve grizzly bears in northern Alaska, and after a summer of recording, the researchers are pouring over hundreds of hours of footage.

Thanks to these cameras, scientists have discovered that the bears spend more time eating plants and berries than other animals, and they were shocked to see that when a male and female decide to breed, the pair will spend huge amounts of leisure time together.

This dashes the image of grizzly bears being carnivorous loners, instead eating plenty of berries and setting aside quality time for intimacy, a lesson we can all learn.

Finally, there’s good news for green technology prospects in the high Arctic. On Friday the 16th, Norwegian ferry operator Torghatten announced in a press release that the world's northernmost fully electric car ferry has started sailing between two of Norway's northern islands.

The opening days were tough, with temperatures reaching as low as minus twenty-five degrees Celsius, minus thirteen Fahrenheit, but the ferry showed that its batteries are capable of operating even in the frozen Arctic.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Remember that we sell very cool t-shirts, check them out with the link in the show notes.

Ilaannilu