Arctic Ocean Highway German troops. After the war, Finland ceded the Petsamo area to the Soviet Union and Finland's access to the Arctic Ocean was lost. The Arctic Ocean Highway became a part of the new national road 4. Instead of Petsamo, it headed for Utsjoki and the Norwegian border by the western side of the Lake Inari. Arctic Ocean Highway Arctic Ocean Highway (, , ) was a 531 kilometre-long highway in Lapland, Finland connecting the town of Rovaniemi to the port of Liinakhamari by the Pechenga Bay of the Barents Sea. It was opened in 1931 as the first highway in
Arctic policy of the European Union Arctic policy of the European Union If the accession of Iceland to the European Union occurs, the EU will increase its Arctic influence and possibly gain permanent observer status in the Arctic Council. The Northern Dimension of European Union policy, established in the late 1990s, intended to deal with issues concerning western Russia, as well as to increase general cooperation among the EU, Iceland and Norway. It has since become a multilateral, equal partnership among the EU, Iceland, Norway and Russia. Canada and the United States are observers to the partnership. Three Nordic Council members have joined the EU (Denmark