On Friday, Progress Party (FRP) leader Sylvi Listhaug will present the party’s proposal on how the Armed Forces should be managed and equipped. One of the party’s proposals is to have air defense in place in major cities in Norway.
Listhaug is promoting the proposal in the Norwegian parliament (Storting) together with party colleagues Hans Andreas Limi and Christian Tybring-Gjedde, the newspaper VG writes.
Among other things, the party wants to increase the number of Norwegian Home Guard (Heimevernet) soldiers from 40,000 to 60,000, speed up the procurement of new helicopters for the Army, and ensure permanent air defense of all major Norwegian cities.
“We won’t be able to deliver everything overnight. This is largely a long-term plan to accelerate and strengthen the original plans. In the short term, measures will require up to NOK 8 billion, which should be done this year and in next year’s state budget,” Listhaug told the newspaper.
As part of the Ukraine crisis package, the government proposes a NOK 3 billion increase in the defense budget. The FRP is asking for another NOK 5 billion.
“Defense and security are expensive. At the same time, Norway now has extraordinarily high revenues from electricity, oil, and gas. As there is a war in our immediate area in Europe, we believe there is a real need to further strengthen them.”
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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