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The Arctic has been long absent from our agenda, but now it is once again drawing attention of politicians and academics. The growing concern over the region is a consequence of climate change causing the melting of the Arctic ice cap. Not getting involved in the dispute over the speed and extend of this process, it is widely assumed that it will eventually open up new possibility for natural resources exploration and new maritime routes. We all agree that environmental consequences of this process will be profound, what I would like to draw attention of this House and the EU as whole to though, is its political and indeed security dimension. The Cold War showed us how strategically important the Arctic is. We have witnessed economic, political, even military rivalry in this region. For its positive future there is a clear need for a joint international effort, in which EU should play an active role. There is a need to find a balance between economic exploitation of the region and its ecosystem, but there is also a need to inter alia protect the existing legal regime governing the Arctic, to name just this one issue.