... Norway would ‘have to face head-on Russia and Russian military might’. A similar warning was issued in November 2011, when President Medvedev announced that to prevent nuclear war, Russia may have to launch a limited military strike to decapitate NATO’s missile defence components when the system reaches the maturity to neutralise Russian second-strike capabilities. Further tensions in the Arctic is also evident as Norway is accused of attempting to establish ‘absolute national jurisdiction’ over Svalbard and its shelf. In a breach of the Svalbard Treaty, Russian officials were banned access, while members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly were invited to the ...
... Norway and Turkey enjoyed the prestigious status of a NATO "flank country." The situation brought Norway enormous investments from the NATO infrastructure programs, which were effectively used both for military and civilian purposes. Hence, Norway suffers damages from the North’s reduced importance for NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union and would prefer to fuel controllable tensions with Russia in the Arctic.
Oslo has long found itself balancing between these often-mismatched interests, with the optimal scenario appearing to lie in free operation in the North, primarily in Spitsbergen and adjacent waters, or jointly with Russia, with overall support ...
... Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, which will not only contribute to NATO-led operation, but also enable Nordic countries to maintain their armed forces at their current size and quality[vii]. Norway relies on NATO to secure its national interest in the Arctic Norway sees NATO as “the essential source of security and stability in an unpredictable world”[viii], and is thus actively promoting NATO’s role in the Arctic, mostly to counterweight Russia’s military rebuilding programs in the region. Norway ...
... “mini-NATO”. Norway’s ex-Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg in 2010 came out with the idea to create a defense alliance of five states – Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden – to consolidate their military positions in the Arctic.
Norway’s plans for NATO’s greater role in the Arctic are supported by Britain. As an important member of the Alliance and a nuclear power, Britain since 2010 has focused on the issues of defense and security in the Arctic region. This is expressed, in particular, ...