NATO is concerned that Norway, being a neighbor of Russia, does not meet the alliance's defense spending requirements, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller said Monday
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2019) NATO is concerned that Norway, being a neighbor of Russia, does not meet the alliance's defense spending requirements, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller said Monday."Norway is the only NATO country today bordering Russia that does not spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense. And does not yet have a credible plan to get there," Gottemoeller said in the Norwegian Atlantic Committee.
In 2018, Norwegian state secretary within the Ministry of Defense, Tone Skogen, said that Oslo did not regard Russia a threat and wanted to be a predictable neighbor for Moscow.
The relations between Russia and NATO deteriorated in 2014 in wake of the Ukrainian crisis. The bloc accused Moscow of interfering in the conflict and decided to boost its military presence in Eastern Europe. It also suspended all practical military cooperation with Russia but kept military lines of communication open.
Moscow has repeatedly denied these allegations and stated that amassing troops and military equipment on its borders is provocative and violates past NATO pledges. Russia has warned that such actions could lead to regional and global destabilization.
