Following a two-day visit where relations with Norway were rekindled and the ‘High North’ revisited the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation focused on increasing cooperation in the region a statement from the NATO press service said. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Ambassadors from the North Atlantic Council (NAC) wrapped up a two-day visit to Norway on 7 May with a visit to the Norwegian Armed Forces operational command centre in Bodø. The Secretary General thanked Norway for its contributions to NATO missions.
“Our North Atlantic Council visit is a clear sign of the important role Norway plays in the Alliance,” he said. Fogh Rasmussen also thanked Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who hosted the Council, for organising the visit. This provided an opportunity for the Ambassadors to receive briefings on the capabilities of the Norwegian Armed Forces and to discuss the increased importance of the High North.
“It is a region that matters to Norway as well as to all of us. We all have an interest in how the situation in the region evolves,” Rasmussen said. “After all, four of the five Arctic littoral states are NATO members. The Arctic is a hard environment. It rewards cooperation, not confrontation, and I trust we will continue to see cooperation”. The Secretary General and the Ambassadors visited the Royal Norwegian Air Force base at Bodø Main Air Station, where they saw a demonstration by several F-16 jet fighters.
They also received a briefing at the Joint Headquarters, which is the operational command centre for the Norwegian Armed Forces. At the beginning of the trip, NATO ambassadors attended a discussion on security challenges at the University of Tromsø. They also visited the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Coast Guard Vessel KV “Sortland” in the harbour of Tromsø.
