The Prime Minister's introduction at the press conference with the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on visit to Norway
Speech/statement | Date: 22/05/2025 | Office of the Prime Minister
'I appreciate that the Secretary General comes to Norway very early in his term, to get an overview of what the High North and the Arctic really means, for the Arctic itself, but also for the NATO security at large," said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
As delivered (transcribed from audio tape)
Welcome on board, dear Mark, Secretary General, dear friend,
It is really a privilege for me to welcome you to the North of Norway on this day; we have arranged for a beautiful summer day, a pre-summer day. There is important and serious business in this visit.
We have now experienced how our forces train and exercise together, we have seen high capabilities working hand-in-hand, and I appreciate that the Secretary General comes to Norway very early in his term, to get an overview of what the High North and the Arctic really means, for the Arctic itself, but also for the NATO security at large.
And having known Prime Minister Rutte as a very attentive political leader, we now see him as Secretary General, getting the inputs from the different parts of this great Alliance, and that is really of great significance for us.
Norway takes a special role for allied security, both our own security and also that of our allies, here in the north. We have invested in defence capabilities really tailored for the north, we have maritime patrol aircraft – which we will visit a bit later, F 35s, submarines, frigates, drones, coast guard vessels like this one, and space assets.
With Sweden and Finland joining NATO the whole perspective of allied reinforcement in times of crisis gets another dept – because we have our neighbours close to us – and that is also integrated now in our planning. We are taking steps to integrate the Nordic armed forces, we are following up with NATO, we have announced that we will take this CAOC responsibility of monitoring the air space for NATO; they will be in Norway and in Germany and in Spain – so, we are really focused on this, and I am very pleased that the Secretary General could have a first-class briefing on this with us.
We are also working towards the Summit in the Hague – where we are going to commit to increase our defence spending towards the 2030s – and this time it will be a very close coordination between defence spending and capabilities and defence plans.
And, Secretary General, I think you will be the key guide to take us there. So, Mark, thank you for coming and the floor is yours.
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