Drone flights spur Norway to raise military alert to highest postwar level

Norway has raised its military preparedness to its highest level in the postwar era, citing an increasingly “serious security policy situation” in northern Europe.

Amid growing security concerns in the Nordic countries, Sweden’s armed forces supreme commander said on Tuesday he was open to stationing nuclear weapons on Swedish territory.

The shifts came as a new leg of an undersea pipeline between Norway and Poland went fully into operation, part of a plan to end dependency on Russian gas.

In recent weeks Norway and Sweden have noted a rising number of drone flights, which they attribute to “foreign intelligence”, around nuclear power plants and other critical infrastructure.

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Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the country was ramping up its preparedness level in general due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, although Norway says it has no imminent concern over a move from Moscow.

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“There is no reason to expect that Russia will involve Norway directly in the war, but we must be more vigilant,” he said. “But increased tension means that we are more exposed to threats, intelligence, and influence, that makes it necessary for all Nato countries to be more vigilant, including Norway.”

Norway shares a 200km border with Russia and, since February, Oslo has increased its military spending along with its state of readiness.

Recent weeks have seen the Norwegian navy step up its patrols in the Baltic Sea, while its Home Guard has increased its presence and monitoring of critical infrastructure.

Several Russians have been arrested in recent weeks over drone flights in Norway, and for taking photographs in restricted areas – including a man believed by Norwegian counter-intelligence to be a member of the GRU Russian military intelligence.

Norway’s newest piece of critical infrastructure, the Baltic Pipe, became fully operational on Tuesday after problems following the October 1st launch.

The new stretch of Baltic Pipe, a joint project between Denmark’s Energinet and Poland’s Gaz-System, is a 275km pipeline between Denmark and Poland as well as 230km of domestic Polish pipeline.

As of Tuesday, Norwegian gas is now flowing directly to Poland, with full annual capacity of 10 billion cubic metres likely to begin from November.

Amid growing security concerns in the Nordic countries, Sweden’s armed forces supreme commander-in-chief, Micael Bydén, said he did not oppose stationing nuclear weapons on Swedish territory.

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“It is a very serious security political situation,” said Gen Bydén. “It is a general recommendation not to start the Nato process with closures, we should walk into Nato as open as possible.”

The debate over a nuclear deterrent on Swedish soil, previously a taboo, has been growing since Sweden applied to join Nato alongside Finland. The new centre-right government in Stockholm is now stepping up its diplomatic efforts to secure Turkey’s backing for the accession.

Sweden’s new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, will travel next week to Ankara, which remains defiant in blocking membership bids from Finland and Sweden.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that, in exchange for its accession backing, Sweden and Finland extradite suspects which Turkey considers to be terrorists.