Andøya Airport will become a military reception base for Allied forces, Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (SP) told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Thursday.
“For the government, it is important to strengthen the ability to receive Allied troops and forces. There will still be a military base on Andøya because we believe it is important for our country,” Vedum told NRK.
“This will be a permanent base on Andøya, precisely because it is so well located. It is important for Norway that we are a member of NATO and that we can accept Allied forces. Andøya as a base is a very good starting point,” he said.
The Norwegian parliament (Storting) decided to close the airport on Andøya in 2016 when it became too expensive to operate. It was decided that both fighter jets and maritime surveillance aircraft would assemble at Evenes.
On Wednesday, it was also announced that the new fighter base at Evenes in Nordland would be several billion kroner more expensive than first thought.
Minister of Defense Odd Roger Enoksen (SP) stated in the Storting on Wednesday that the base could cost up to NOK 8 billion. That is NOK 3 billion more than the initial cost limit of NOK 5.2 billion.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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