Adm. Robert Papp steps down as top Arctic diplomat
![adm-robert-papp-steps-down-as-top-arctic-diplomat](https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/01/robert-papp.jpg)
Retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Robert Papp has stepped down from his State Department post as U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic and joined a shipbuilding company as its Washington, D.C., lobbyist.
Papp, who had served as a Coast Guard officer for nearly 40 years, stepped down as the agency’s top official — commandant — in 2014.
In a statement issued earlier this month, Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. of Panama City, Florida, named Papp as its first permanent official in D.C. The company is a major contractor with the Coast Guard and is set to design and build nine new patrol cutters under a contract that could exceed $10 billion for 25 cutters.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canada stresses diplomacy and cooperation at Ottawa Arctic conference, Radio Canada International
Finland: Finland set to chair Arctic Council as member relations sour, Yle News
Iceland: The Arctic Council at 20 – View from Iceland, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Norwegians light bonfire near Russian border to protest defense cuts, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Norwegian FM Brende invites Russian FM Lavrov for Arctic talks in Tromsø, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: Papp hopes next president will carry on U.S. Arctic policies, Alaska Dispatch News