The Armed Forces are preparing to welcome a fighting force of 300 US Marines to Værnes.
This unit may be in place quite soon, the newspaper Adresseavisen.
Several Military sources say that has been known for a long time that the US soldiers are to be stationed with the Værnes garrison.
The unit in question is a pure fighting unit of the US Marine Corps.
Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide writes in an email to the newspaper that this is an American initiative and that there is currently an ongoing dialogue on the military level about increased levels of training in Norway.
– This work is ongoing, but the initiative has not yet been politically debated in the Ministry of Defence, so we can not provide any more detailed answers at this time.
Any concrete proposals will of course be handled and discussed by the government and the parliament in the usual way, Søreid sayse.
John Christian Skorgen, researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs believes this could be construed as a base and that it will lead to reactions.
– This happens in a situation where relations between Russia and NATO is difficult. There is every reason to beware, he said.
Adresseavisen has talked to several members of the foreign- and defense committee in Stortinget who did not know about the plans.
Centre Party member, Liv Signe Navarsete, responded by sending a written question on the issue to the Minister.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
