The Norwegian government advocated restricting the movement of Oslo’s allies in NATO near the Russian borders. This statement was made by the head of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry Anniken Witfeldt on Friday, December 3.
“In our opinion, it would be better if we manage ourselves in the immediate vicinity of the Russian border – with the help of Norwegian aircraft and frigates,” Witfeldt told VG newspaper.
She noted that she is going to discuss this issue with the United States and Great Britain.
“They can make decisions for themselves. But we, in turn, must protect the interests of Norway, ”added the head of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.
According to Witfeldt, now the presence of the US military near the border with Russia is no greater than in other periods of the “post-war era”, reports “Gazeta.Ru”.
On November 12, in the commentary of the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, it was reported that Moscow was seriously concerned about the visit of the Norwegian warship Tour Heyerdahl and its call at the port of Longyearbyen on the polar archipelago of Spitsbergen and perceives this as hidden militarization. In this case, according to Zakharova, we are talking about the extension of the Norwegian Law on Ports and Fairways to Svalbard. It involves the use of the archipelago’s infrastructure in the military planning of the defense of Norway, including the reception of reinforcements from NATO allies.
On November 2, the new prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, said that the priority of his government’s policy towards Russia should be to maintain strong good-neighborly relations and cooperation with Moscow. According to the Norwegian Prime Minister, it is necessary to realize the shared responsibility of Russia and Norway as Arctic coastal countries.
On October 25, following talks with Anniken Witfeldt, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed confidence that the Norwegians are pragmatic people. Russia wants to maintain a pragmatic approach and focus on the positive, he explained. And whatever Norway has to do within the framework of its obligations as a NATO member, Norway will do, keeping in mind the importance of relations with Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.