Details of probably the most worrying threats to the UK and Europe’s security have been revealed.
As Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron toured a NATO military base in north-west London on Thursday, they were shown a map of the hazards facing the alliance at sea.
These maritime security challenges span 4 continents, and expose the threats posed from major superpowers all of the strategy to pirates.
The revelation got here just before Starmer and Macron signed a historic latest defence relationship agreeing to co-ordinate nuclear deterrence systems.
Here, Metro takes a deep dive into a few of these dangers troubling NATO commanders most.
Arctic: sovereignty questions, latest industrial routes and China
The Arctic Circle became the centre of geopolitical tensions after Donald Trump demanded the US take Greenland out of Denmark’s hands.
The US President made his reasoning clear in a speech to Congress in March: ‘We’d like Greenland for national security and even international security.’
The Arctic Five – Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the US – all operate within the frosty north, for instance by fishing and with oil and gas exploration.
While the group used to co-operate, that has now broken down, with Russia even conducting military exercises within the region.
Trump’s climate scepticisms has also strained relations over the crucial warming ice sheets.
Nonetheless as climate change ramps up temperatures, latest opportunities risk further tensions.
If the arctic becomes ice-free, that may open up latest trade routes through the North Pole – something of particular interest to China.
They consider themselves a near-Arctic state and investing more within the region – which also offers beneficial deposits critical minerals.
Growing Russian and Chinese influence in North Africa
As European eyes are on the conflict in Ukraine, Russia and China are expanding their reach in North Africa in ways in which threaten NATO.
Russia is providing security support to juntas across the mineral-rich Sahel region, just as Senegal and Ivory Coast demand French troops leave their countries.
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Putin has deepened its ties with the north African state of Libya, where it’s negotiating a brand new naval base at Derna, which could mean Russian warships near to NATO naval activities.
China is making similar inroads because the West’s power appears to wane.
The US downsized and pulled its troops out of Niger last 12 months, just months before China ramped up its military activities in Africa.
Xi Jingping held a China-Africa co-operation summit in September 2024, where he promised to coach the 6,000 military personnel and invited 500 African officers to go to China.
The country also runs an overseas base in Djibouti, giving it a foothold to a chokepoint which controls access to the vital Suez Canal.
Undersea activities
The ocean bed is becoming the brand new battleground for state sabotage.
Crucial undersea cables, which transmit vast swathes of web and telecommunications, are being cut around Europe – with many blaming Russia and China.
On Boxing Day last 12 months, Finland seized a cargo ship carrying Russian oil, which the authorities suspected had damaged 4 undersea cables with Estonia and Germany.
This just isn’t the primary time this has happened. In November 2024, cables linking Sweden to Lithuania and Finland to Germany were damaged.
This time, investigators linked the disruption to a Chinese-owned ship, which was accused of dragging its anchor along the seabed to chop the cables, in keeping with the Wall Street Journal.
In response to those and a string of other incidents, NATO launched Baltic Sentry, a mission aimed toward ramping up the alliance’s presence across the cables.
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