The Russian Embassy in Oslo said that it looks with “serious concern” at the government expanding the stationing of US troops in Norway.
Earlier this week, it became apparent that the government wishes to expand the system of stationing US soldiers by up to 700 soldiers, distributed at Værnes in Trøndelag and Setermoen in Indre Troms. The rotation system was introduced in 2017 and has already been decided to continue in 2018 with approximately 330 soldiers in Værnes.
In a comment posted on Facebook, the Russian Embassy pointed out, among other things,that the act violates the 1949 Norwegian Decree on “not opening bases of foreign forces in Norwegian territory as long as Norway is not attacked or threatened with attacks” .
The embassy stated that this makes Norway unpredictable, can increase excitement, push for a weapons race and lead to destabilisation of the situation in Europe. The statement said that they regard the act as “clearly unfriendly” and warned that this “will not remain without consequences.”
The statement said that Russia has repeatedly commented on the expansion of the foreign military presence in Norway. “The situation has not changed: whether it is Værnes in Central Norway, Rygge in southern Norway or Setermoen in northern Norway – such steps raise serious concerns with us,” it said.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
I am sure they also expressed satisfaction that there were no US troops stationed in CRIMEA. They would prefer ditto in the rest of EUROPE. Putin cannot recreate the great SOVIET empire if people allow super power troops to take up residence, it’s so annoying !