– That bill does not go up, if Norway is to leave NATO – Dagsavisen
– And then to Rødt, said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in the Storting, after his account of the government’s handling of the war in Ukraine. He obviously addressed deputy leader Marie Sneve Martinussen (R), who had just given a speech about his party’s support for extra billions to the Norwegian defense, talked about unity, and supported his solidarity with Ukraine.
– That bill will not go up, if Norway is to leave NATO, Støre said.
– It is politics that safeguards Norway’s interests in normal times, and it is still politics when we are in a time of crisis. Unity and solidarity in a time of war and crisis that we are experiencing now will be in direct conflict with Norway raising its hand and saying that we should leave NATO. NATO, which is not an offensive alliance, which is a security alliance, which is a solidarity alliance. This is a point I believe that the time is now to retaliate, for those who have the opportunity to do so, the Prime Minister said in his appeal to Rødt, and perhaps also to SV. Both parties are declared opponents of NATO membership.
[ Forsvar og utenriks kan bli nye politiske vinnersaker ]
– NATO eyes and ears
The latter is in sharp contrast to almost all other parties in the Storting. One by one, representatives from the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party, the Conservative Party, the Green Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats took the podium and expressed their strong support for NATO and the government’s proposal to allocate an extra 3.5 billion to the Norwegian defense. SV and Rødt also support the extra allocation and a stronger national defense, but a lot to say about NATO. Precisely NATO opposition is not particularly popular in the political climate that prevails in the Storting now, in the middle of the Ukraine war and a Russia that is spreading security insecurity in Europe, not least in a country like Norway, with its Norwegian-Russian border.
In his account of the situation in Ukraine, Støre placed special emphasis on strengthening the military presence in the northeast. Not only for the sake of Norway’s defense, but also because NATO expects this.
– We will be NATO’s eyes and ears in the north, Støre said, and thus announced an upgrade of the Norwegian defense.
The government is asking the Storting for an extra 3.5 billion for defense and emergency preparedness. The government wants increased activity in the Navy, the Army and the Home Guard. 1 billion goes to strengthen the stock of ammunition, personal equipment, critical equipment and to replenish fuel stocks. 800 million will, among other things, go to increased monitoring of the sea areas in the north.
NOK 350 million is proposed to strengthen the ability of Allied reception, primarily in the north, while NOK 200 million will go to strengthen the Intelligence Service and increase the Armed Forces’ ability to resist digital threats, the government says. In addition, 500 million will be used to strengthen civil preparedness.
– No surprise
Rødt’s Deputy Speaker and Storting representative Marie Sneve Martinussen certainly received the Prime Minister’s urgent call from the Storting’s rostrum to regain its opposition to Norwegian NATO membership.
– That the prime minister from a party that has consistently been for NATO membership believes that a party that does not want the wrong policy, is no surprise, Martinussen says to Dagsavisen.
She has also received Norstat’s survey for Aftenposten, in which 72 per cent of Rødt’s own voters are supporters of Norwegian membership in NATO.
– We see in surveys that there is great, popular support for NATO, and I have great understanding for that. We are in the middle of an acute crisis, says Martinussen, and admits that it is tougher than otherwise to be a clear NATO opponent in today’s political climate.
– Of course it is. But it is also important to emphasize that Rødt’s policy is not that we should leave NATO tomorrow morning. We have an alternative defense policy for Norway, where we believe we need a strong national defense – which NATO membership has actually helped to build down over a long period of time. We have a small, land-based defense in Norway, while we have prioritized investing in equipment to contribute to so-called “Out of area” operations on land in the Middle East and Africa. Rødt also works for a defense alliance with the Nordic countries, says Rødt’s deputy leader.
– I am glad that Norway is a country where it is allowed to have different opinions, also about defense and foreign policy. Støre and Rødt simply have different perspectives on NATO. Støre says “NATO threatens no one”, but I would say that the two million who are fleeing Libya probably felt quite threatened when NATO bombed Libya in its time. Red is in principle against war of aggression, even when NATO goes to war of aggression, says Martinussen, but adds:
– But to report Norway out of NATO tomorrow morning, it will leave the country defenseless for the first and best great power. That is not Rødt’s policy. But Rødt is working to get Norway out of NATO.
However, Martinussen will not say clearly that she is taking Støre at her word and is now opening up for an internal NATO debate in Rødt.
– Rødt is a democratic party with a high ceiling, and it is the national assembly that decides the party’s policy. I believe that Rødt’s views on defense policy will continue after this, not least in light of the NATO we have put forward so far, which has been involved in many other conflict situations around the world. The current situation does not make NATO’s previous wars of attack less serious, says Martinussen.
[ – Vi skal møte barn som har mye savn ]
– A defense-friendly party
SV leader Audun Lysbakken, on the other hand, has already welcomed a NATO debate in the party that was once founded on NATO resistance.
– We will take that debate, but this is not the most important debate to take first, Lysbakken says to Dagsavisen.
– Now it is solidarity with Ukraine that applies, and SV is a defense-friendly party. What has come today from the government is very much in line with what we have been calling for for several years – a shift in defense policy from waging war in other countries, to focusing on a stronger national defense. We get it now: We will be more present in our own local areas, enforce sovereignty, there will be more people and more equipment. We are very much in favor of all this, quite simply, says Lysbakken, who at least in the long run envisages a debate about NATO in SV.
– When the world changes, it is only natural to also discuss security policy, and what kind of answer is right right now. Our position was a completely correct answer during the Cold War, and during the many years of NATO wars abroad, he says.
– Then we have to discuss what is the right answer now. But that is not where we are starting right now: the important thing now is more what we can do in solidarity with Ukraine, and what can be done to secure Norway and ensure Norwegian preparedness.
[ Hvem er Putin? ]
Keep yourself updated. Receive a daily newsletter from Dagsavisen