Saturday, 17 April 2021_Norway has signed an agreement with the US to build facilities on its airfields and a naval base amid growing tensions between the US-led military alliance and neighboring Russia.
"The agreement regulates and facilitates US presence, training and exercises in Norway, thus facilitating rapid US reinforcement of Norway in the event of crisis or war," the Norwegian government said.
The government further noted that the accord between the two founding NATO members will let the American military build facilities in three Norwegian air bases and one of its naval facilities, which would not constitute separate US bases.
"Our cooperation with our allies is under continuous development. The agreement reaffirms Norway's close relationship with the US and confirms Norway's key position on the northern flank of NATO," Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said about the military pact made by the country’s minority government of Prime Minister Erna Solberg which must be ratified by the parliament before being enacted.
"Our policies regarding the stationing of foreign forces on Norwegian territory, the stockpiling or deployment of nuclear weapons and port visits remain unchanged," Soereide added.
Since joining NATO in 1949, Norway has claimed it would not allow the building of foreign bases or the stockpiling of nuclear weapons on its soil, although Western troops would be welcome to conduct military drills there.
The development came as relations between Oslo and Moscow – which had improved in the post-Cold War era -- suffered a setback following the unification of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea with Russia in 2014 after a referendum that overwhelmingly favored the move.
The Kremlin recently accused the US military of escalating tensions in the resource-rich Arctic region by taking provocative measures, insisting that Russian activities there do not pose a threat to any country.
Your Comment