He says agreements are a recognition of a serious security policy crisis in the Nordic region will affect all Nordic countries.
– The vision with the agreement is that we should be prepared to deal with each other in peacetime, and if a conflict arises, he says.
Bakke-Jensen says that collaboration is about developing the operational collaboration, among other things with information exchange and joint planning work.
– This makes the security policy picture secure. It is both a good deterrent and has a significant security effect, which analyzes the security situation, which I like all the Nordic countries, says Bakke-Jensen.
Russia-uro
Minister of Defense Frank Bakke-Jensen (H). Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB Photo: NTB
Sweden’s Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist says that Russian military exercises affect security in the Nordic countries, including the Sound and the North Sea.
– Of course it does. Russia is ready to use military force to achieve its goals and intentions, he says according to TV4 and calls for cooperation necessary.
Hultqvist says that for a long time it has been relevant to initiate and closer operational cooperation with neighboring countries in order to increase the military capacity in all three countries.
The agreement includes joint military exercises. This has also been the case for the three countries in the past.
Addition to NATO
The new Nordic defense agreement is a recognition that a security policy crisis in the Nordic region will affect all Nordic countries. In the photo, Russian soldiers are fired from a helicopter during a joint military exercise in China. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense / Reuters / NTB
Norway already has an accession and military co-operation agreement with Sweden and Finland, where the North Calotte is defined as an area that co-operates on.
This has given Norway a link to Sweden, which is not itself a NATO member, but a partner and to the EU’s defense cooperation, of which Norway is not a part, but of which Sweden is a part.
In the agreement with Denmark, southern Scandinavia and the Kattegat, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea are at the center.
Bakke-Jensen maintains that NATO is the most important alliance for Norway, but says the agreements with Sweden, Denmark and Finland are an important supplement.
– In NATO, we have a large plan for the defense of the member countries. The value of cooperating with Sweden, Finland and Denmark is that we can adapt our plans to the areas we have in common, he says.
Video: Norwegian fighter jets are drilled with B-1 bombers in Norwegian airspace