The imperialist and expansionist desire of the Russian president, , causes sleeplessness in a good part of Europe, especially since he unleashed the great invasion of Ukraine four years ago. The head of Norway’s Armed Forces, Eirik Kristoffersen, fears his country could be among those Moscow attacks and invades in an attempt to safeguard its nuclear assets.
“We do not exclude an occupation of territory by Russia as part of their plan to protect their own nuclear capabilities, the only thing they have left that really threatens the United States,” as Kristoffersen explained in an interview with the British newspaper in which he was very critical of the president of the United States.
This same Wednesday, the United Kingdom announced that, in the face of the Russian threat, it will double the deployment of its troops in the Norwegian area of the Arctic Circle over the next three years until it reaches 2,000 troops, according to the Ministry of Defense, reports Efe. “Russia poses the greatest threat to the security of the Greater Arctic that we have seen since the end of the Second World War,” has warned the Minister of Defense, John Healey, according to several media outlets. “We see how (President Vladimir) Putin is rapidly reestablishing his military presence in that region, including reopening former Cold War bases,” he added.
The head of the Norwegian army is aware that this threat weighs on his country or other former Soviet territories, but he remembers that the Kremlin has, not far from Norway, in the , nuclear submarines, land-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft that would be crucial if Russia entered into conflict with NATO. Despite everything, he considers that the threat not only weighs in the form of traditional armed conflict, but also in the form of “hybrid” war. He acknowledges that Oslo and Moscow should keep an open line of communication to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to escalation.
Kristoffersen charges firmly against the , although he believes that he is not going to take that territory by force. “They won’t do it,” he points out. With the Ukrainian conflict in the background, he states that “occupying in the first place is usually very easy, but maintaining the occupation is very, very difficult. And I think all expansionist powers have experienced that.”
On the other hand, the head of the Norwegian Armed Forces describes as “unacceptable” his claims that allied countries had not served in front-line positions while American troops had done most of the fighting. Kristoffersen himself, 56, has served in that Asian country.
“We were on the front line. We carried out all kinds of missions, from arresting Taliban leaders to training Afghans and surveillance work. We lost 10 Norwegians. I lost friends there. So we all feel that it makes no sense,” said the soldier. He affirms that he has not felt affected by those comments even though Trump “does not know what he is talking about when he says these things,” but that it hurts him because of the offense it represents for Norwegian veterans and their families.
