Norway: Siltanews – News Desk
“We see no immediate risk of a military attack on Norway. But we live with permanent and increasing threats such as cyber-attacks, terror attacks, and sabotage, as well as pandemics and natural disasters,” says Jens Stoltenberg, and continues:
“We live at a time where we cannot take peace for granted, like we used to. This is due to the sum of everything that happens around us.”
The Norwegian Minister of Finance (Labor) and former NATO Secretary General spoke to a full house during a conference on total preparedness in the North, recently organized by UiT – the Arctic University of Norway and Narvik municipality.
The audience included experts and leaders from the public, private and voluntary sectors, gathered in Narvik to discuss security challenges in the High North and cross-sectoral cooperation.
Not just serious: Jens Stoltenberg warmed up the audience with a humorous tone before addressing matters related to security and defense. He also reassured that there is no sign of any immediate danger of war befalling Norway. (Photo: Ida Laingen / Norwegian Ministry of Finance).
The conference and Stoltenberg’s visit to Narvik are framed by the Norwegian Liberation and Veterans Day on May 8th. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of a free Norway after war and occupation.
“I cannot imagine a better place than Narvik to mark the Liberation and Veterans Day,” states Stoltenberg.
Narvik has an ice-free seaport and has long served as a major transshipment point for iron ore from Northern Sweden. In 1940, the strategically important town was the subject of significant battles in which Norwegian and allied forces fought back against German invasion forces.
“The truth is that it wasn’t until I got to NATO that I realized the significance of Narvik and Northern Norway during World War II,” says Stoltenberg, who became the Secretary General in 2014.
“I was in London and met generals and war historians who told me about the battles in Narvik. I was in Paris, and they spoke of the courage and suffering here in April and May 1940. And I was invited to Warsaw, where I put down a wreath at the Narvik monument for Polish soldiers who fell here.”