Debate is intensifying in Norway over the expanding U.S. military presence on Norwegian soil, particularly since the arrival of a contingent of four U.S. B-1B bombers at the Ørland air base west of Trondheim. According to a lengthy report in the Norwegian English-language news site newsinenglish.no, the debate falls mainly along the expected lines, with the ruling Conservative Party and the official military establishment supporting the deployment and the tightening of Norway’s relationship with NATO, and the left parties, which oppose NATO anyway, speaking out against the U.S. military presence. There are some notable singularities cited in the report, however.
Much of the debate centers on Norway’s long-standing policy, referred to as the base policy and dating back to 1949, of not hosting foreign forces on Norwegian soil during peacetime, and on the fear that that policy is now being undermined. Even a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, which otherwise supports NATO and cooperation with U.S. allies, expressed concern this week: “When and where and by whom was this doctrine phased out?” queried Thorbjørn Berntsen, a former government minister, on social media.
Perhaps most notable, according to the report, however, were the criticism and warnings from a lieutenant colonel and professor at Norway’s own defense college, Forsvarets høyskole, Tormod Heier. He has publicly stated that Norway risks becoming “a battlefield in a steadily more escalating rivalry between the superpowers.” Russia had already been complaining about the bombers’ arrival all month. What worries Heier most, and which he clearly and rather bravely expressed on national newscasts last week, was the lack of public or political debate long before the bombers arrived last week.