US to open northernmost diplomatic post in Norway; only mission above Arctic Circle

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The United States will soon open a small diplomatic mission in Norway that will be its northernmost in the world and only such facility above the Arctic Circle. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the move on Thursday as competition over the high north’s resources with Russia intensifies. Blinken said the U.S. would open what is known as an “American Presence Post” in Tromsoe, which sits 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. The post will be staffed by a single U.S. diplomat with the title of “consul.” The State Department had maintained an office in Tromsoe until 1994 but it was shuttered in a re-alignment of diplomatic facilities after the end of the Cold War.