Denmark to lay claim to North Pole - report

[Feuer Frei!]

DENMARK, which already counts Greenland and the Faroe Islands as its Arctic territories, is planning to lay claim to the North Pole, a daily newspaper reported, quoting a leaked foreign ministry paper. "The country is expected to lay claim to the continental shelf in five areas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, including the North Pole itself," the strategy paper reads, according to the online version of the Information daily, which said it obtained a copy of the strategy document set for publication in June.
If Denmark's "Arctic Strategy 2011-2020" is adopted, the claims would put the Scandinavian country on a collision course with Russia, the US, Canada and Norway.
The five countries all have claims in the region, where melting polar ice and new technologies have made the "high north" easier to access and fuelled competition for untapped oil and gas reserves.
The Arctic seabed is thought to hold about 90 billion barrels of oil and 30 per cent of the world's undiscovered gas resources, according to the US Geological Survey.
The North Pole seabed itself is however not believed to hold large reserves, but appears to hold symbolic value for the countries in the region.
In 2007 for instance, a Russian mini-submarine reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean under the North Pole and planted a Russian flag.
The Arctic and the Antarctic are the last major regions on earth where sovereignty remains unresolved.
Countries bordering the Arctic currently are entitled to a 200 nautical mile economic zone from their coastlines, but claims for extending their territories will be decided under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
UNCLOS requires countries laying new claims to present them within 10 years of ratifying the convention, something Denmark did in 2004.
According to the leaked draft strategy, Denmark will present its new claims no later than 2014.


SOURCE


I wonder what Santa Claus will have to say about this