Norway is officially on Putin’s sh*t list. On Wednesday, according to The Daily Beast, Russia made it clear that it views Norway’s friendliness with NATO countries and steps to strengthen its military forces as an explicit threat. And that there could be repercussions.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, issued a statement in which she declared that, “Oslo is now among the most active supporters of NATO’s involvement in the Arctic. We consider such developments near Russian borders as Oslo’s deliberate pursuit of a destructive course toward escalation of tensions in the Euro-Arctic region and the final destruction of Russian-Norwegian relations.” She also warned the Scandinavian country that any additional “unfriendly actions will be followed by a timely and adequate response.”
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that Norway, which shares 120 miles of its border with Russia, had raised its military alert level following suspicious drone activity. As Shannon Vavra wrote for The Daily Beast:
Norway has arrested several Russians, including one son of an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s, and accused them of illegally flying drones in Norwegian airspace or taking photos in restricted areas as concerns abound about potential Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre warned Russia to cut it out, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
“Today, we have no reason to believe that Russia will want to involve Norway or any other country directly in the war,” Støre said in response to the drone activity. “But the war in Ukraine makes it necessary for all NATO countries to be more vigilant.” Støre also stated that Russia’s war with Ukraine and tenuous relationship with several other European nations is “the most serious security policy situation we have experienced in several decades.”
(Via The Daily Beast)