“Russia’s largest nuclear arsenal is located in the High North, just a few kilometers from Norway,” he said, adding that Norway would continue to rely on NATO for its security.
On March 2, the French president he announced that Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden agreed to discuss nuclear cooperation with Paris. That could include joint nuclear exercises, information sharing and, eventually, the possible temporary deployment of France’s nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets to allied countries — a concept the French call “forward nuclear deterrence.”
Since then, high-level talks about what that partnership will entail have already begun with some nations, two officials told POLITICO.
On Wednesday, Paris and Oslo also signed a bilateral agreement on defense and security – dubbed the Narvik agreement – which includes a clause on mutual assistance, further dialogue between their armed forces and cooperation in air defence, space and Arctic security, Macron said. In the past few years, the French president has sought to increase his country’s defense ties with the Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
Save he told the Norwegian news agency NTB early Wednesday: “We are doing this considering the state of security policy in Europe, including Russia’s massive arsenal, also in the nuclear domain, and that it is waging a total war against another European country.”
He added that no nuclear weapons will be deployed on Norwegian soil during peacetime.
Milena Wälde contributed to this report.
