Norway and NATO

Last updated

Norway joined NATO on 4 April 1949 as a founding member, along with eleven other countries. [1] Norway committed an effort to NATO's intervention in Yugoslavia in 1999 and in Libya in 2011. [2] It also sent troops to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. There are two major parties in the country that support the country's exit from NATO, the Reds and the Socialist Left. [3]

Before joining NATO, the country had been out of any alliances since its complete independence in 1905 from Sweden. [4] That belief changed due to the German occupation during the Second World War, as neutrality was considered to be no longer a feasible policy. [5] After the war Norway intensified its cooperation with the United Kingdom and secured support under the US Marshall Plan. [6]

At present, Norway which is still a founding member of NATO – falls short of the NATO requirement which states that each country should allocate 2 percent of its GDP towards military expenditure.[ citation needed ] However, the government made a pledge to accomplish this by the year 2026. [7] [8] In a 2022 poll, 96 percent of Norwegians said they supported NATO membership. [9] In another poll, 72 percent of the Red Party voters said they wanted to continue membership in the alliance, despite the Red Party's principled opposition to the alliance. [10]

In March 2024, large NATO military exercises in Finnmark, northern Norway, resulted in significant damage. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NATO</span> Intergovernmental military alliance

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber. The organization's strategic concepts include deterrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jens Stoltenberg</span> Former Prime Minister of Norway and NATO Secretary General

Jens Stoltenberg is a Norwegian politician who served as the secretary general of NATO from 2014 to 2024. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he was the prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 until 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Hanshaugen</span> Borough of Oslo, Norway

St. Hanshaugen is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway.

The Christian Democratic Party is a Christian-democratic political party in Norway founded in 1933. The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP). It currently holds three seats in the Parliament, having won 3.8% of the vote in the 2021 parliamentary election. The current leader of the party is Dag Inge Ulstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Left Party (Norway)</span> Left-wing political party in Norway

The Socialist Left Party is a democratic socialist political party in Norway. Positioned on the left-wing of the political spectrum, it is opposed to European Union and the European Economic Area membership. SV supports a strong public sector, stronger social welfare programs, environmentalism, and republicanism. As of 2018, the party had 11,385 members; the number has steadily increased since a low point in 2015. The party leader is Kirsti Bergstø, who was elected on 18 March 2023

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Denmark</span> Political party in Denmark

The Communist Party of Denmark is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark, through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and Socialist Labour Party of Denmark, both of which had broken away from the Social Democrats in March 1918. The party adopted its present name in November 1920, when it joined the Comintern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonas Gahr Støre</span> Prime Minister of Norway since 2021

Jonas Gahr Støre is a Norwegian politician who has served as the 36th prime minister of Norway since 2021. He has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2012 and as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2012 to 2013. Støre has been a member of the Storting for Oslo since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trygve Slagsvold Vedum</span> Norwegian politician

Trygve Magnus Slagsvold Vedum is a Norwegian politician who has served as Minister of Finance since 2021. A member of the Centre Party, which he has led since 2014, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hedmark since 2005. Vedum also served as Minister of Agriculture and Food from 2012 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ine Eriksen Søreide</span> Norwegian politician

Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide is a Norwegian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2021, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she was the Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she was elected in 2005 as a member of the Storting for Oslo. Søreide was appointed Norway's Foreign Minister on 20 October 2017. She succeeded Børge Brende.

The Red Party is a socialist political party in Norway. It was founded in March 2007 by a merger of the Red Electoral Alliance and the Workers' Communist Party. A Marxist party, it has been described as left-wing and far-left on the political spectrum. In its political programme, the Red Party sets the creation of a classless society to be its ultimate goal, which the party says is "what Karl Marx called communism". The party's other goals are replacing capitalism with socialism, an expansive public sector and nationalisation of large enterprises. It strongly opposes Norway becoming a member of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsti Bergstø</span> Norwegian politician

Kirsti Bergstø is a Norwegian politician serving as the leader of the Socialist Left Party since March 2023. She previously served as one of the party's deputy leaders from 2017 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bjørn Arild Gram</span> Norwegian politician (born 1972)

Bjørn Arild Gram is a Norwegian politician currently serving as minister of defence since 2022. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as minister of local government from 2021 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Norway</span>

Capital punishment in Norway has been constitutionally prohibited since 2014. Before that, it had been fully abolished in 1979, and earlier, from 1905, the penal code had abolished capital punishment in peacetime.

Nationwide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 12 September 2011. Several municipalities also opened the polling booths on 11 September. For polling stations this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently. In addition, an advisory referendum was held in Aust-Agder to determine whether to merge the county with Vest-Agder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakselv Airport</span> Airport in Banak, Norway

Lakselv Airport is an international airport located at Banak, 1.5 kilometers north of the village of Lakselv in Porsanger Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. Co-located with the military Station Group Banak, the airport is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor. The airport is also branded as North Cape Airport, although the North Cape is 190 km (120 mi) away, and the nearest airport is Honningsvåg Airport, Valan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 military intervention in Libya</span> NATO-led air and naval attacks during the civil war

On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War. With ten votes in favour and five abstentions, the intent of the UN Security Council was to have "an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute 'crimes against humanity' ... [imposing] a ban on all flights in the country's airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Muammar Gaddafi regime and its supporters."

Beginning on March 19, 2011, and continuing through the 2011 military intervention in Libya, anti-war protests against military intervention in Libya were held in many cities worldwide.

The international reactions to the 2011 military intervention in Libya were the responses to the military intervention in Libya by NATO and allied forces to impose a no-fly zone. The intervention was authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, approved in New York on 17 March, in response to the Libyan Civil War, though some governments allege participants in the operation exceeded their mandate.

The domestic reactions in the United States after the 2011 military intervention in Libya ranged from criticism to support. Unlike the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, which were carried out largely without external intervention, the brutal reaction of the Gaddafi regime to the protests that began in January and February 2011 quickly made it clear that the Libyan opposition forces would not be able to achieve political progress or to overthrow their government by themselves. In light of ongoing serious human rights violations, the United Nations Security Council established a no-fly zone over Libya and authorized the member states of the UN to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack. Two days later, a coalition of states—including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—began to carry out air strikes against military targets in Libya. By the end of March 2011, NATO had taken over the international military operation in Libya. With the support of NATO, the insurgents successively took power in Libya, gaining control over the capital, Tripoli, in August and over Sirte, the last city held by the Gaddafi regime, in October 2011. During the fights over Sirte, Gaddafi was killed. With the insurgents taking control over most of the country and being recognized as the legitimate (transitional) government of Libya by much of the international community, a change in the Libyan regime has taken place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of NATO</span> Overview of multilateral relations

NATO maintains foreign relations with many non-member countries across the globe. NATO runs a number of programs which provide a framework for the partnerships between itself and these non-member nations, typically based on that country's location. These include the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace.

References

  1. ↑ "The North Atlantic Treaty (Washington, 4 April 1949)". CVCE.EU by UNI.LU. 25 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Norway to join military intervention in Libya". Reuters. 18 March 2011 – via www.reuters.com.
  3. ↑ "What is the European Left Saying About the Ukraine War? - Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)".
  4. ↑ Eriksen, Knut Einar; Pharo, Helge (1993). "Norway and the early cold war: Conditional atlantic cooperation". 21 S.
  5. ↑ https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA334343.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. ↑ "NATO har sikret Norge i 72 år". 31 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "(+) Nato-landene fastholder at de vil bruke minst 2 prosent av BNP på forsvar". altaposten.no. 11 July 2023.
  8. ↑ Minister, Office of the Prime (2 May 2023). "Norwegian Government plans to meet NATO's 2 % goal by 2026". Government.no.
  9. ↑ "Meningsmåling: 96 prosent av nordmenn vil beholde Nato-medlemskapet". Dagsavisen. 1 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "72 prosent av Rødts velgere støtter Nato-medlemskap". 17 March 2022.
  11. ↑ https://www.msn.com/nb-no/nyheter/other/millionskader-etter-stor-nato-%C3%B8velse-i-finnmark/ar-BB1khQk0 [ bare URL ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.