American-Norwegian defence agreement

Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen. Photo: Norwegian Navy/Helne Sofie Thorkildsen

Although the primary goal of Norwegian policy is to keep the Arctic free of military tensions and maintain good neighbourly relations with Russia, the country has initiated a change of course in recent years, which culminated in the defence agreement with the USA in April. Parliament still has to approve the agreement.
Norway is thus reacting to the expansion of Russian bases on the Cola Peninsula and the Franz Josef Islands and the expansion and modernisation of the Russian North Sea Fleet. The sober assessment from the Norwegian side is therefore that its own military capacities are no longer sufficient to be able to react appropriately to Russian pressure. The 700 American soldiers stationed on a rotational basis are also no longer considered sufficient. The Norwegian desire for an increase is in line with the American interest in the Arctic in order to be able to deploy unpredictable activity patterns from various bases during fleet and air force operations.
The agreement gives the USA the opportunity to build, equip, arm and man its own facilities on four Norwegian bases. These include the harbour at Ramsund and the Evenes airfield near Narvik. From Ramsund, the American navy secures unhindered, ice-free access to the North Atlantic near the Kola Peninsula and thus close to the routes taken by Russian nuclear submarines on their way to the GUIK line. The harbour at Tromsø was extended by Norway to provide American submarines with berthing facilities. In April, the USS NEW MEXICO called at Ramsund. The airfields at Rygge and Sola near Oslo and Stavanger can be used by the US Air Force in future to monitor shipping traffic to the approaches to the Baltic Sea.
Critics complain that the agreement deviates from the constitutional principle in force since 1949 that no foreign troops may be stationed in the country in peacetime. The government rejects this accusation, arguing that the agreement merely authorises the construction of facilities without permanently stationing troops.

Author: Andreas Knudsen