Norway and Great Britain prepare for joint “cod war” against EU
The Norwegian Navy confirms that they have increased the presence of coastguard vessels in the North Sea in anticipation of Brexit.
On Friday, the government announced that fishing boats from lands without a valid fishing agreement with Norway would be banned from Norwegian territorial waters from New Year.
Norway and the United Kingdom may finalize a joint new fisheries agreement already in the New Year, the newspaper Nationen writes.
That means that the Coast Guard is first and foremost prepared to chase out the EU fishing fleet out of Norwegian fishing zones.
Increased presence
The new head of the Coast Guard, Commander Oliver Berdal, says that the Coast Guard has increased its presence in the North Sea and is monitoring the situation.
It wants to be ready in the event of an escalation.
“We are prepared to deploy more vessels in the North Sea if necessary. But so far, we have no indications that this will be necessary immediately,” Berdal said.
He emphasized that he experiences the relations between Norway and the United Kingdom as clarified and that access to Norwegian economic zones at the turn of the year is primarily aimed at the EU fishing fleet.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
