Once open, it will be Washington’s northernmost post, and only such American post above the Arctic Circle. “The presence post in Tromso is really an ability to have a diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle,” Blinken said at a news conference in Oslo where he was attending an informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. “Having a diplomatic presence further North will only further enable and enhance those efforts,” he said. Lanteigne says the U.S. selection of Tromso for the new post, a city that’s also the seat of the Arctic Council secretariat, is a significant choice. “Tromsø is also located at a crossroads of the Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish Arctic, and close to the Russian Arctic frontier.
