Norway drastically increases military spending

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “NTV”, due to the war in Ukraine, Norway wants to increase its defense spending by 83% in the next 12 years. Prime Minister Jonas Gehrstur said that he is planning additional spending of 600 billion kroner (51.7 billion euros) for the period from 2024 to 2036. According to him, this “historic effort” takes into account the security situation in this region of our world.

Stor said at the unveiling ceremony of the defense white paper: stronger military It will deter those who threaten our security and that of our allies. We expect to face a dangerous and unpredictable neighbor for years to come. As a NATO member country, Norway has a 198-kilometer land border with Russia, as well as a sea border in the Barents Sea.

According to this document, the Norwegian government can Among other things, it will order 5 new frigates, additional submarines, up to 28 ships, several maritime surveillance drones and helicopters. The number of army brigades is to be doubled from one to three, and the number of air defense systems of the Nassams type is to be doubled from four to eight. According to the country’s defense ministry, Norway’s armed forces are to be strengthened by a total of more than 20,000 soldiers, employees and reservists. In addition, the decision to close the air base for naval patrols in Andøya, northern Norway, will be reversed. The country is set to grow from the current 91 billion kroner to 166 billion kroner, or three percent of Norway’s GDP, by 2036. According to NATO guidelines, Norway currently spends two percent of its economic production on the military.

This project still needs to be approved by the parliament. The minority government formed by the Social Democrats and the Center Party needs the support of the conservative opposition for this purpose. The white paper is described as a “good basis for negotiations”. He requests the members of this coalition.

In a recent speech, he emphasized the need for greater coordination between America and Europe and a fair division of the military burden between the two in the Western defense coalition.

Recently, during the presentation of the 2023 annual report, while reemphasizing the need to continue supporting Ukraine, the NATO Secretary General asked the member countries to increase their defense spending to more than 2% of the gross domestic product. increase domestically.

The annual report states: If allies want to close existing deficits and meet the demands of a discussed security order, they need more than two percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) should be spent on defense.

NATO also considers the recent threats of Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US presidential election, more on the need to increase spending. The military forces of the members are emphasized.

Currently, the biggest concern of Europeans is the possibility of Republican Donald Trump returning to the White House. He has repeatedly said that the European governments are responsible for the defense of Europe and America can no longer bear the costs of this work. There is also the concern that Donald Trump, as president, will stop the US aid to Ukraine.

About 7% of the NATO budget is provided by the United States of America. But on the other hand, other NATO member countries buy a large part of their weapons from America.

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