丹麥欲對北極提出主權要求

近日，一份遭泄露的丹麥官方文件顯示，丹麥政府正計劃對北極點及北極圈多處地區提出主權要求，丹麥科技部已經開始收集數據，並將於2014年前向聯合國大陸架界限委員會提交申請。近年來，北極地區日益融化的冰川將會提供新的航運線路、漁場和油氣開發機會。據悉，該地區未開發的油氣藏量佔全球的四分之一。俄羅斯、挪威、加拿大以及美國對北極部分地區也都有主權要求。丹麥政府若想成功申請到主權，就必須有證據證明北極與格陵蘭島在地理上是相互關聯的，而格陵蘭島被劃入丹麥領土已有600多年了。

Denmark plans to lay claim to the North Pole and other areas in the Arctic, where melting ice is creating new shipping routes, fishing grounds and drilling opportunities for oil and gas, according to a leaked government document.

The draft document titled "Strategy for the Arctic" said Denmark's Science Ministry has started collecting data to formally submit a claim for several areas to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf no later than 2014.

To be successful, the Danes will have to present evidence proving that the North Pole is geologically linked to Greenland - which has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years

Russia, Norway, Canada and the US have their own claims - sometimes competing - in a region believed to hold as much as 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas.

The Danish government confirmed the authenticity of the document, which was first obtained by Danish Radio and published online by newspaper Information.

Denmark has for years explored potential claims to areas off Greenland, a semiautonomous territory, but this is the first time the government explicitly states it will make a claim for the North Pole, said Martin Breum, a Danish journalist who has written a book about Denmark's interests in the Arctic.

Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said the strategy was still being reviewed and a final version was expected in June. However, she affirmed in a statement that Denmark expects to "be able to lay claim on an area which includes the seabed of the North Pole."

The race to secure subsurface rights to the Arctic seabed heated up in 2007 when Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny national flag under the North Pole. Russia argued that an underwater ridge connected the country directly to the North Pole, a claim disputed by other Arctic nations.

The 34-page Danish document said Denmark wants "to lay claim to the continental shelf in five areas around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the North Pole itself." At least four of those areas are believed to hold oil or gas resources.

Exploiting such resources becomes easier as climate change shrinks Arctic sea ice coverage, which has reached record lows in the past decade.

The document also said Denmark's military will strengthen its focus on the Arctic but stressed that the Scandinavian nation will work for peaceful cooperation between Arctic states.

Last week the eight members of the Arctic Council - Russia, United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland - agreed to coordinate Arctic search-and-rescue missions.

The United States has said it wants the cooperation pact to be a template for agreement on more pressing national security issues.