As US ties fray, Europe plans first undersea cable link to Greenland

Key Points:

• The European Union plans to build the Pan-Arctic Cable, the first subsea Internet cable directly connecting Europe to Greenland, with potential future extensions to Canada, Japan, and South Korea, bypassing the United States.
• This project is part of the EU's new Arctic strategy aimed at establishing a sovereign, secure, and resilient submarine cable network, supported by a $119 million investment through the Connecting Europe Facility Digital program.
• Geopolitical tensions, including strained relations with the US and security threats from Russia and China, have increased the importance of creating cable routes that connect friendly nations while avoiding unfriendly territories.
• The Arctic Cable Hub will be established by the EU to monitor, protect, and repair submarine cables in the North Atlantic-Arctic region, incorporating smart technologies for early threat detection.
• Rising risks to undersea cable infrastructure are evident globally, with incidents of cable sabotage linked to Russian, Chinese, and Iranian activities, highlighting the strategic importance of secure and resilient connectivity routes.