加拿大正在携手北欧国家创建一个全新北极安全联盟，这一合作旨在排除俄罗斯，提供一个平台用于协同制定国防、情报及网络安全策略。这一动议是由外交部长方慧兰（Joly）提出的，主要是因为北方国家间高层政治会晤的减少，部分原因与俄罗斯的存在有关。
在瑞典近期加入北约后，方慧兰在接受彭博社采访时指出：“长期以来，加拿大认为其地理位置提供了一定的安全屏障。但现在我们必须认识到，我们面对着俄罗斯这样一个邻国，且由于气候变化，北极吸引了更多国家的关注，包括中国。这要求我们需要应对这一新的现实。”她强调，“现在我们需要考虑这一全新的局面。”
方慧兰在谈及与国家安全有关的承诺时指出，鉴于俄罗斯入侵乌克兰及中国的北方兴趣导致其北部领土安全感受损后，加拿大已承诺加强在北极地区的军力部署，并正努力向美国证明自己的防务伙伴可靠性，特别是在共和党总统候选人强调盟国安全成本的情况下。
她还表示，在冰岛、丹麦、芬兰、挪威和瑞典的外长陪同下，双方在加拿大北部地区努纳武特首府伊卡卢图会面，讨论了共同探索建立“北极安全对话”或新防务论坛的可能性。同时，会议也聚焦于对北极地区的外来投资及敌方所谓的“双用途”研究（即同时具有民用和战略目的的研究）。
此外，在与加拿大北部的因纽特社区合作下，她正着手制定一项策略以对抗俄罗斯和中国的影响。虽然加拿大的军事存在在北极地区远远不及俄罗斯强大，但加拿大政府承诺增加国防预算，并发展能在冰面上执行任务的能力。然而这些计划的实现将需要数年的时间。加拿大目前国防支出占GDP的比例大约为1.4%，与北欧国家中的其他国家相比明显较低。
专家指出，“加拿大深化与北方民主国家的安全合作是非常积极和久违的重要措施”，特别顾问艾克纳-皮罗特（Exner-Pirot）这样认为，她在北极发展和安全方面具有专长。她指出高级中国及俄罗斯官员正讨论他们的北极战略。
针对加拿大未能有效防卫北美大陆北部边界的美国担忧日益加深的背景，加拿大总理特鲁多曾承诺到2032年达到北约目标，即将国防支出提升至GDP的2%或以上。然而，他的政府对此并未给出详细的执行细节。艾克纳-皮罗特认为这种“速度”是不可接受的，“我们是一个发达国家”，她指出。
美国前国家安全顾问苏珊·赖斯在多伦多的一次活动中表示对特鲁多设定的时限提出了质疑：“加拿大理应为其未能履行承诺和缓慢路径而感到尴尬。”她强调，加拿大需要承担起应尽的防务责任。方慧兰自2021年担任外长以来，一直在应对俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的影响，并在遏制中国影响力的策略中扮演了关键角色。
加拿大政府的国防策略中的核心部分包括增加军事资产和情报收集能力，并提出了与可能与中国存在分歧的国家进行外交沟通的新策略，以此实现共同目标。为此，她于今年7月成为中国七年来首位访问中国的加拿大外长，在艰难的会谈中与中方进行了三个半小时的交流。该会晤发生在加拿大宣布对中国电动汽车、钢铁和铝制品加征关税数周之后。
方慧兰在谈及外交的作用时强调：“有时人们认为外交无法展现国家实力，但事实上，停止对话某些国家其实显示了一种形式上的弱点，因为这使得进行艰难对话变得更加困难。”
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：Canada Working With Nordic Allies to Form Arctic Security Group, Joly Says
新闻日期：2024-10-02
原文摘要：
Canada is working with Nordic countries to create a new Arctic security coalition that would exclude Russia and offer a place to coordinate on defense, intelligence and cyber threats. Security talks among the northern allies are needed because they don’t meet privately at the political level anymore, partly due to Russia’s presence on the , Canadian Foreign Minister said. The Nordics are now all NATO members after Sweden’s accession earlier this year. “For a long time Canada, we thought we were protected by our geography. But now we need to reckon that we are a country facing Russia and because of climate change, more countries are interested in the Arctic, including China,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “We need to be addressing this new reality.”Canada has pledged to strengthen its in the Arctic after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s growing interest in the far north, shattered its sense of security in its vast northern territories. Prime Minister ’s government is also trying to prove to the US that it’s a reliable partner on defense, especially as Republican presidential candidate places a heavy emphasis on allies of security costs. Joly with her counterparts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut. They agreed to explore ways to create a so-called “Arctic security dialogue” or a new forum to discuss defense matters, Joly said. Those conversations must also focus on foreign investment in the Arctic and adversaries’ so-called “dual-use” research, which targets both civilian and strategic objectives, she added.The minister is also developing an , in collaboration with Inuit communities living in Canada’s northern territories, that will aim to counter Russian and Chinese influence. Canada’s military presence in the Arctic pales in comparison with Russia’s, and while its this year pledged to boost spending and capable of operating under ice, those commitments will take years to fulfill. The country spends about 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense, much less than the Nordic countries apart from Iceland.The pledge to deepen security talks with democratic allies in the North is “very positive and very overdue,” said , a special adviser at the with expertise on Arctic development and security. She noted that senior Chinese and Russian officials have been meeting to discuss Arctic strategy.Read More: The US is extremely concerned about Canada’s inability to defend the northern flank of the continent, Exner-Pirot said, and has been pressing the country to meet the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s target of spending 2% or more of GDP on defense. Twenty-three of 32 members meet the threshold. In July, Trudeau promised to reach the benchmark by 2032, but gave few concrete details. “It’s preposterous,” Exner-Pirot said. “We are a wealthy country.”Former US National Security Advisor told an event in Toronto on Wednesday that Trudeau’s 2032 timeline is too slow. “Canada should frankly be embarrassed about breaking its commitment” and about “being on a slow path” to reaching the 2% goal, Rice said at the Global Risk Institute summit. “Canada needs to pull its weight.”Joly has been foreign minister since 2021 and has overseen Canada’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and unveiled an aimed at curbing China’s influence. A major component of that strategy was increasing military assets and intelligence-gathering, but the minister has also unveiled a strategy of “,” engaging with nations with which Canada has strong disagreements to achieve common goals, where possible. To that end, in July she became the first Canadian foreign minister in seven years to visit China, having a “tough” three-and-a-half hour conversation with her counterpart, . The meeting came weeks before Canada announced new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum. “Sometimes people think that diplomacy is not something that helps you show strength,” she said. “Well, I really think that when you stop talking to certain countries, it actually shows to a certain extent a form of weakness because it’s more tough to have really difficult conversations.”
