Welcome to the webpages dedicated to Czech activities in the Arctic.

The Arctic is a unique habitat encircling the northernmost latitudes of our hemisphere. It extends over the territory of eight states. In recent decades, the geostrategic and geopolitical significance of the Arctic has been growing along with the diminishing ice sheet. The loss of ice due to global warming is making the Arctic more accessible for year-round maritime navigation and for mineral extraction. The acceleration and cheapening of the transport of goods between Europe and Asia via the Northern Sea Route, and possibly the exploitation of new deposits of hydrocarbons or rare-earth metals, may be of major importance for further development of the world, and thus Czech, economy. Rising sea levels, the need to adapt to living in new conditions and the effects of climate change and human activity on the environment naturally make the Arctic an object of scientific research.

The Czech Republic is fully aware of the growing importance of the Arctic. Czech scientists have studied the Arctic ecosystem for a long time, using their scientific infrastructure in Svalbard. The Czech Republic, as a contracting party to the Svalbard Treaty (Czechoslovakia acceded to the treaty in 1930), can conduct scientific research on the archipelago with the consent of the Norwegian authorities. Thanks to the cooperation with Arctic states, especially with the Kingdom of Norway, the University of South Bohemia has operated its own Arctic research station of Josef Svoboda in Svalbard since 2015. A number of scientific grants have also been implemented by Czech scientists in Greenland and Iceland.

Following a decision of the Government of the Czech Republic, the Czech Republic applied for observer status in the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental organisation of eight Arctic states, in December 2020. Observer status in the Arctic Council would enable the Czech Republic to work more closely with relevant Arctic actors in all the above-mentioned domains.

The admission of new observer countries was not decided at the 2021 ministerial meeting. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Arctic cooperation at ministerial level was suspended until further notice in 2022. The Czech Republic will continue to seek observer status prospectively.