When Sweden joins NATO, the country will participate in NATO’s command center in Norfolk, in the American state of Virginia.
But the five Nordic countries have also proposed establishing a completely new command center in Northern Europe, according to the newspaper Klassekampen, Ritzau reports.
Such a regional command center would mean that one can take advantage of the special military challenges that exist in the Nordic region, says the Norwegian Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen to Klassekampen. He envisions using the existing military base that is already outside Bodø in Norway.
However, several experts warn that it will not be popular in Russia, which shares a border with Norway.
— It can be perceived as a hostile act. This is an area of great strategic importance for Russia, says lawyer and conflict researcher Cecilie Hellestveit to Klassekampen according to the NTB news agency.
Even Tormod Heier, a professor at the Norwegian Defense Academy, tells the newspaper, according to NTB, that Russia will interpret it as arch-enemy the United States strengthening its military footprint in Northern Europe.