The Norwegian government announced on Friday March 18 that it would release more than 300 million additional euros in its annual budget for its army. In Oslo, as in the other Nordic countries, very close to Russia, Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine has moved the lines.
Norway is the guardian of the northern borders of the Atlantic Alliance. It shares 200 kilometers of land border with Russia, not counting the maritime border in the Barents Sea. As for the general secretary of the politico-military organisation, Jens Stoltenberg, he is a Norwegian.
Precisely, Oslo wants to show Moscow that the Norwegians are ready for any eventuality, explains our regional correspondent, Frederic False. Since the beginning of the week, the Nordic kingdom has been welcomingimportant NATO military maneuverswith 30,000 soldiers from 27 countries.
And this Friday, he announced an additional envelope of 300 million euros for his military budget. “ Although a Russian attack on Norway is unlikelysaid his defense minister, Odd Roger Enoksen, we have to realize that we have a neighbor to the east who has become more dangerous, and more unpredictable. »
The Nordic countries are sharpening their weapons
The additional budget envelope will be used to increase the presence of the navy in the north, to intensify the training of the active army and the reserve, to increase the stocks of ammunition, fuel and other critical equipment, to improve the reception facilities for allied troops and to strengthen cyber defense and intelligence.
A reasoning that is also held by other Nordic countries. Sweden has just announced that it will increase its military budget to 2% of GDP as soon as possible. The same commotion in Denmark, another member of NATO, which hopes to achieve this objective by 2033. As for Sweden and Finland, they are not members of NATO.
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