Norway to invite more U.S. Marines, for longer and closer to Russia [View all]
Source: Reuters
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway will ask the United States to more than double the number of U.S. Marines stationed in the country in a move that could raise tensions with its eastern neighbor Russia.
he government in Oslo has grown increasingly concerned about Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Some 330 U.S. Marines were scheduled to leave Norway at the end of this year after an initial contingent arrived in January 2017 to train for fighting in winter conditions. They are the first foreign troops to be stationed in Norway, a member of NATO, since World War Two.
The initial decision to welcome the Marines irked Russia and Moscow said it would worsen bilateral relations and escalate tensions on NATOs northern flank.
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide told reporters the decision did not constitute the establishment of a permanent U.S. base in Norway and was not targeted at Russia.
There are no American bases on Norwegian soil, she said, adding the decision had broad parliamentary support.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-us-russia/norway-to-invite-more-u-s-marines-for-longer-and-closer-to-russia-idUSKBN1J8149
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Soereide told Reuters in April that Oslo did not see Moscow as a military threat and that the threat of war in the Arctic, NATOs northern flank, was low.
But she said Oslo saw challenges in the way Russia was developing, not only militarily but also in the areas of civil society, the rule of law and democracy.
The Russian embassy in Oslo was not available for comment.
Additional reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
So basically they don't trust a Russian criminal enterprise.....................