Norway PM 'prepared, but not afraid' of Russian incursion
The Prime Minister of Norway says threats from Russia are part of the modern security picture and should be taken seriously.
Norway PM says Russian threat is real, welcomes closer defence ties with Canada
Mayson Maharaj · CBC News
·
Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The prime minister of Norway says threats from Russia are part of the modern security picture and should be taken seriously.
In an interview with the CBC's Power & Politics, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told host David Cochrane "we are prepared, but not afraid" of a Russian incursion.
He said the threat is "real" and should be followed "very carefully," especially by countries closer to the Russian border — including Canada.
"Intelligence services of NATO countries are pointing to that threat. It is real. It's happening," Støre said.
The threat conversation came to the surface this week following a warning from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Russia is planning hybrid strikes on NATO territory.
Under this threat environment the Norwegian PM says regional groups must come together, welcoming Canada's recent move to seek membership in the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a collection of a few NATO nations whose mandate is to respond more quickly in a crisis.
The JEF was initially formed by the U.K., Netherlands, Nordic and Baltic countries, but Støre says it's now important to talk more closely with countries that he says, "share challenges and security risks," including Poland, Germany, Belgium and Canada.
Carney touts Arctic alliance with Norway during PM's visit to Ottawa, amid Russia threat
Analysis
Russia is rattling NATO’s nerves, but how far will Moscow go?
Støre says the JEF is helpful in cases when issues may be too big for a country on its own or it's not up to the scale of Article 5 — the NATO clause that requires alliance members to defend any other member that's been attacked — telling Power & Politics that NATO allies are engaged in "sophisticated debate" over the threshold for Article 5 to be triggered.
With Russia struggling to reach its strategic objectives in Ukraine, it could be wanting to test Ukraine's partners, says Støre.
Incidents in Europe this summer have raised those alarm bells for NATO partners.
German authorities blamed Russia for a drone attack at an airport in central Germany in August while last week, Bulgarian authorities announced they're investigating a fire at a munitions storage facility operated by arms maker EMCO — whose weapons are used in Ukraine.
Norway looks to Canada as an Arctic partner
Following Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Norway in March, both countries signed a strategic partnership committing to broadly expanding areas of co-operation — notably in the Arctic where both countries share a coastline with Russia.
"We see Canada very much part of the Northern sphere. We have the Atlantic between us, but we are Arctic states," Støre said.
With Russia not an ally in the Arctic, Canada and Norway must stay "very, very closely connected" to maintain order in the North.
In July, Carney chose to buy a dozen submarines from a European shipbuilder instead of a Korean firm, after a months-long, hotly contested bidding process. The chosen partnership involves a German company but partners with Norway, with the three nations collaborating to produce and maintain the submarines.
Inter-operability across submarines is a "major step" to increase Arctic security, Støre says, but also for industrial co-operation on Arctic research.
"That's why we need to work on our coast guards, that's why we need to work on our space ability to do surveillance. This is a very exciting theme between Norway and Canada."
Carney courts Europe
The Norwegian delegation's visit comes on the heels of Carney's address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, a meeting with the new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Liverpool, England, and a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a French territory 20 kilometres off the southern coast of Newfoundland.
As for EU "associate membership"?
Støre says he welcomes "deeper ties," with Canada but on a basis that's "real," and with "meaning."
As Europe's most integrated non-EU country, Støre says Canada, the U.K. and Norway should work more closely together with the EU on new areas that require co-operation such as space, critical minerals, energy and artificial intelligence.
"We can all benefit and not let that sink into bureaucracy and regulations that sometimes complicate things."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mayson Maharaj is a producer for CBC's national television program Power & Politics and a writer for CBC's Parliament Hill bureau.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.