Norway Defense: As tensions in the region continue to rise, the government of Norway, which is a centre-left party, announced on Thursday that it intends to boost the amount of money allocated to the military forces of the Scandinavian country by 7 billion kroner (USD 630 million) over the next 12 years.
The declaration came on the heels of plans that were made the previous month to carry out a “historic increase” in the defence budget of the oil-rich nation by 600 billion kroner, which is equivalent to 54 billion USD, within the same period.
“We must increase the operational capability of the Armed Forces” as stated by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who cited the heightened tensions in the region as the basis for the implementation of this measure.
As a result of the combined budget increase, Gahr Store stated on Thursday that Norway’s defence would be able to meet the Objective of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for military spending of 2% of each member country’s GDP this year.
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In the year 2024, it is anticipated that the defence expenditure of the Scandinavian nation will rise to 104 billion kroner, which is equivalent to 9.4 billion USD.
According to Washington Post, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, the Minister of Finance, referred to it as “a strong growth” and stated that it was “a necessary investment to strengthen our freedom.”
Gahr Store is the leader of a coalition organization that consists of his own social democratic Labour Party as well as the Centre Party, which leans to the left. There are 169 seats in the Storting assembly, and it is anticipated that he will obtain support for the idea. No date has been decided upon for the voting.
Tuesday was the day that party leaders in the Norwegian parliament announced that the Scandinavian nation would be providing Ukraine with a support package consisting of seven billion kroner over fifteen years. This is in addition to the 75 billion kroner, which is equivalent to 6.8 billion USD, that Norway has previously stated it will donate, making it one of the largest donors in the world to the war-torn country of Ukraine.
