Norway wants to keep tensions low in the High North

- The High North is Norway’s most important strategic area of interest and it is a central issue in the Government’s security policy to preserve the low tension which characterizes the area. This was the main message in Grete Faremo’s speech which she held at the Bodø University College on February 8, the ministry’s web site reads.

Common interest in keeping stability

- The government believes that all states with interest in the High North have the same challenges and opportunities, Faremo said. We are mutual depended on each other to secure a sustainable exploitation of the resources in the region and a proper handling of the consequences of climate change. That is why we believe that all states have the same objective interests in preserving stability and peaceful cooperation.

Russia has self interests in keeping tensions low

Russia has large and legitimate interests in the North, the minister stressed. Norway does not see increased Russian military presence in the North as any sign of an arms race, but as a signal of Russia retuning as a regional superpower, with ability and will to protect its interests.

- I believe that Russia has clear self interests in keeping tensions low in the North, Faremo said. - The country has enough security challenges along its southern and eastern borders and inside the federation. She added that Russia has followed the Law of the Sea and established procedures in delimitation of the country's continental shelf outside 200 nautical miles, and the fact that Russia and Norway do not completely agree on how to control resources in the waters around Spitsbergen has not lead to any increased tensions in the area.

The Barents Cooperation

The Norwegian Minister of Defense stressed the good regional cooperation in the North: - The Barents cooperation is one of the world’s most innovative and successful examples on regional cooperation, so-called people-to-people cooperation, and has to a substantial degree contributed to enhanced confidence and mutual understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the North.

Read also: Barents Review: The further north, the better relations