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Sunday, 05.08.2007
Russian flag at the North Pole: Energy & National Pride
(by Gisbert Mrozek in Moscow) Just because the Russian flag now flies at a depth of 4000m at the North Pole, does not mean that the North Pole belongs to Russia, just as the moon does not belong to NASA.
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For international law, what is important are the seabed samples which Russia want to use to prove that the Arctic seabed is a direct prolongation of the Siberian shelf.
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And if this turns out to be the case, then applicable international law – as the Russians understand it – stipulates quite unambiguously that the Arctic seabed and all its mineral deposits belong to Russia. This might not be a source of joy, just as Russian ownership of the Shtokmann gas field or Siberian oil fields might not be. But it will have to be accepted – or else international law will have to be rewritten.
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This is the important difference between the moon and the Arctic
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The Russian flag raised at the North Pole is nevertheless of considerable significance. It symbolises the national self-confidence that Russia is conveying to itself and the world: “We’re back again“. And this in turn brings on stream enormous energy reserves buried in the Russians themselves.
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That is a fact to be reckoned with. And it would be good if the energy was used constructively. Whether at the North Pole or on Mars.
by Gisbert Mrozek, Moscow (gim/.rufo/Moskau)
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