Norway will come under France’s nuclear umbrella, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told news agency NTB on Wednesday, as concerns grow in Europe over the US commitment to the region’s security.
The move by Norway is significant as it has long been a so-called Atlanticist nation, one which believed its security was best achieved via close alignment with Washington.
Stoere travelled to Paris on Wednesday afternoon to meet President Emmanuel Macron and sign a new defence agreement with France, which includes Norway joining a French-led nuclear weapons initiative.
“We are doing this in light of the security policy situation in Europe, including Russia’s massive rearmament, also in the nuclear domain, and that it is waging a full-scale war against another European country,” Stoere told Norwegian news agency NTB.
No nuclear weapons will be deployed in Norway in peacetime, he added.
