Jyrki Kataine’s brisk opening: Let’s make icebreakers with EU money

Special Adviser for the EU and the Arctic Region, Nordic social relations director Jyrki Katainen made Kauppalehti live Economic morning two openings on Monday.

EU Commission appointed Last month, Katainen became a special advisor for the EU and the Arctic region. In Katainen’s words, the purpose is to create new ideas, especially to strengthen Arctic security and defense capability, and on the other hand to create economic benefits.

“I’m making these presentations this summer and early fall, when the EU is renewing its Arctic strategy,” Katainen told Talousaamu.

The journalist who hosted the broadcast Jussi Rosendahl asked Kataine what kind of concrete proposals are planned and whether they could even be related to Greenland. At the beginning of the year, Greenland has been in the headlines for the US president Donald Trump’s announced that they want Greenland under US control.

“They can join Greenland,” Katainen admitted.

He also gave two examples, which, however, he stated were his own thoughts and there is no certainty that they will end up in the EU’s papers.

“It would probably be worth considering whether a coalition of the willing, i.e. countries that are interested, should acquire a certain number of icebreakers for joint ownership and use with the support of the EU,” said Katainen.

In Katainen’s vision, the breakers could be equipped, for example, with sensors, which could be used for scientific work, but also, for example, for obtaining intelligence information.

“We don’t have such a concept at the moment”, Katainen points out.

Rosendahl thought that icebreakers could also benefit the Finnish maritime industry.

“That’s how it would definitely happen if the deal goes through,” confirmed Katainen.

“Absolutely crazy”

Katainen’s second example is related to the construction of mineral processing capacity in Europe.

“It’s absolutely crazy that we dig minerals from the Nordic countries or, in the future, Greenland, and send them to China for processing, which then sells them or doesn’t sell them to us at the price they want. In other words, our dependence on minerals is too great in relation to China, even though they were mined from the North in the first place.”

That’s why, according to Katainen, public and private cooperation would probably be needed to build refining capacity in Europe.

In the interview, Katainen also talked about the new Nordic business cooperation.

You can watch Monday’s Economic Morning in its entirety below.