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The Arctic\u2019s remoteness and sparse population make it vulnerable to the kind of hybrid threats seen across Europe in recent months \u2014 from sabotage of Baltic Sea internet and electricity cables to airspace violations. While the region has so far avoided high-profile incidents, officials suspect some attacks may have occurred unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have also been a slew of lower-level sabotage events in Europe \u2014 some of which have been attributed to Russia \u2014 from arson to vandalism of ministers\u2019 property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic MP in Denmark\u2019s parliament, said that the vast Arctic island had one internet cable from Canada and one from Iceland \u2014 before the new link to Denmark comes online. Building an extra cable helps ensure that if one link is damaged, others can keep communications flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe vulnerability that you see in the western world, you can times it by 1,000 here. If you cut one of our cables, we won\u2019t have internet for six to nine months,\u201d Chemnitz said, adding that Greenland lacked surveillance capacity to track any attacks that did happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several cables have been damaged in the Arctic or nearby but no perpetrator has been identified. The cable connecting the Shetland, Orkney and Faroe Islands with Scotland has been damaged three times recently, once in 2022 and twice in 2025, affecting internet availability on the Scottish islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A data cable to the Norwegian Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard was damaged in January 2022. Public broadcaster NRK established that a Russian fishing boat crossed it more than 140 times beforehand, but prosecutors shelved the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Denmark said last month that it would spend $8.7bn on F-35 fighter jets and boosting Arctic security, including the new cable to Greenland. It added that it would discuss with the Faroe Islands the possibility of connecting the archipelago too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greenland and the Faroe Islands are self-governing territories of the kingdom of Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johannesen said that a Faroese government proposal to join sanctions by Norway and the EU on two Russian fishing companies \u201cthat are perhaps doing some spying has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, it\u2019s more about hybrid attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Faroese government had suggested a third cable in talks with Copenhagen last year. \u201cThe risk would still be there but it would be lower,\u201d the prime minister added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the Arctic countries have backup deals with satellite companies for internet, but these cover only a small proportion of communication. Chemnitz said it was about 1 per cent for Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir, Iceland\u2019s prime minister, told the Financial Times that Iceland had a backup deal that was \u201cenough for critical needs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cEveryone is thinking about hybrid\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009To an extent, we are prepared; to an extent, we are not. We have participated in talks on cables and the Baltic Sea. Like the Faroes, Iceland is very sensitive to any sort of cut off. We share intelligence. We share learnings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n