NATO parliamentarians visiting the Storting. Photo: Storting.
NATO parliamentarians visit Norway
Politicians from two of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s (NATO PA) committees are currently taking part in a study trip to Oslo, Kirkenes and Tromsø. The aim of their visit is to find out more about Norwegian security policy and defence technology.
“We are very pleased that the NATO PA has once again chosen to come to Norway. This visit gives us a prime opportunity to explain Norway’s views and perspectives on security in our part of the world, and to show what Norway has to offer in the field of defence technology,” says Trond Helleland (Conservative Party)
Mr Helleland is the head of the Storting’s delegation to the NATO PA. He welcomed the parliamentarians to the Storting on Monday 22nd November.
“The evolving security situation in the High North is a key Assembly priority. We know it is also Norway’s principal area of strategic focus. Our visit this week to Oslo, Kirkenes, and Tromsø is designed to be a comprehensive, yet concise, overview of the range of issues facing Norway in the High North today and over the horizon”, says Alec Shelbrooke (UK), chair of the NATO PA’s Defence and Security Committee.
Meeting with the Minister of Defence
During their time in Oslo on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd November, the politicians had meetings with, among others, Minister of Defence Odd Roger Enoksen, and Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service.
Visits to Kongsberg Gruppen and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) at Kjeller were also items on the programme.
Visiting Storskog
The trip then turned northwards, when the politicians went to Pasvik and to the crossing point at Storskog on the Norwegian border with Russia. The visit also included a meeting with Ellen Katrine Hætta, chief of police in Finnmark.
The NATO study trip will finish in Tromsø with visits to Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and the Fram Centre (a research centre for climate and the environment), and meetings with the Arctic Council secretariat and the Norwegian Polar Institute.
More about the NATO PA
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly plays an important role as a link between NATO and its member states’ parliaments. Through their work in the NATO PA, MPs can help to shape NATO policy and bring it closer to the people.