The Russian embassy denies that the neighborly relationship between Russia and Norway is good, as Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen claimed in an interview with Nordlys.
The Russian embassy in Oslo posted a post on Facebook on Monday night.
In the post, it accused Norway of destroying the neighborly relationship between the two countries.
The message was posted after Bakke-Jensen talked about having “very good contact with the neighbor to the east” in an interview with newspapers Nordlys and Klassekampen.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that at Norway’s initiative, the military interaction has been put on ice.
The systematic dialogue at the political level between our countries and relations between special services have been reduced to a minimum.
“The Norwegian government rejected all initiatives from Russia to restore cooperation,” the embassy wrote in its statement.
“NATO outpost“
The Norwegian Armed Forces want the US Navy to be able to use a civilian, municipal quay in Grøtsund, one and a half miles north of Tromsø city center, for its nuclear-powered submarines.
The local politicians in Tromsø primarily want to use this quay for civilian purposes, according to Nordlys.
“Norway has, without threats from Russia, eagerly assumed the role of a NATO outpost on the border with our country.
“We note the increased militarization of Norway, systematic anti-Russian exercises, the transfer of the presence of large foreign forces on Norwegian territory to a permanent basis, contrary to the traditional “base policy,” the embassy added.
“We think that Norwegian politicians should use their energy and the people’s money to strengthen peace in the north, and not to destroy it,” the embassy continued.
Doubts about Norwegian independence
“The relationship is not good now. Such statements emphasize just that. The Russians also want to state that they believe that Norwegian security policy is not exclusively determined in Norway.
“They cast some doubt on Norwegian independence and Norway’s ability to shape its own policies,” Ingerid M. Opdahl, head of the Russia program at the Department of Defense Studies (IFF), told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Ingerid M. Opdahl’s careful echo of (the Russians’) concern is admirable, but I really wish Kjell Grandhagen were still alive. Erna and the others might have listened to *him*.
NATO has ceased to be a legitimate defensive alliance, since 1999 when it unnecessarily (and illegally, by Nuremberg) forced our Kosovo bombing war on the Serbs with Appendix B of the Rambouillet – betraying, frightening, and enraging Russian democratic president Yeltsin who then turned Russia back over to its national security community: Putin.
“Liberal interventionist” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has even pledged NATO’s technical military assistance support for Turkey’s invasion of Syria.
Fired U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s statement “God help us” yesterday throws into question President Trump’s military intent (toward Iran if not elsewhere), if not his mental stability.
Both these factors give Norway’s government fair reason for pulling back from the ongoing war preparations – especially since such a confrontational move only increases the risk of war here, for which Norway’s civil defenses/sivillforsvars are utterly, negligently unprepared.
The foreign policy question which most needed to be openly discussed in our Campaign 2020 debates is Biden’s long-standing intent to add Ukraine and other Russian buffer states to NATO, which the Russians are prepared to go to (World) War (3) to stop, since that means aggressive NATO’s bases all the way up to Kharkov at their throats. Biden’s election appears to Russians to be a de facto declaration of war on them, and Russian military ally China is also withholding congratulations to Biden, which he probably expected well by now.
Israel’s and Turkey’s Nagorno-Karabakh war was obviously meant to be a diversionary flank threat to Russia as well as establish a base for a ground attack against adjacent Iran. Putin’s treaty to Armenia’s disadvantage is only an expedient. He can deal with Turkey later.
Putin is (verbally) attacking NATO’s threat here in the North. Thus, he has dealt with both flanks, leaving ….
The country which awards the Nobel Peace Prize and thus has the most moral Duty in the world to preserve peace – Norway – should be opposing and trying to stop these obvious steps toward World War 3 … should NOT be going along with them … let alone enabling this very nuclear world war to be fought up here (too).