Peculiarities of German-Norwegian Cooperation in the Military-Political Sphere (Late 2010s — First Half of 2020s)

Annotation

At the beginning of 2020s, Germany has faced with the crisis of its strategic presence at the global level: primarily to the east and to the south of NATO zone of responsibility. The possibility to compensate the losses is to ensure powerful positions in the Arctic. Germany has tried to do it through cooperation with Norway. Other NATO member states also show interest in Norway as a potential “bridge” for strategic penetration to the Arctic Ocean. The article examines the security relations between official Berlin and Oslo since the second half of the 2010s, the quality and scope of cooperation. The preservation of Norway’s value in German foreign policy planning in the context of Finland’s (2023) and Sweden’s (2024) accession to NATO is explained. A high level of trust was characteristic of the dialogue at the highest level, remaining unchanged both under Angela Merkel and Erna Solberg and under their successors Olaf Scholz and Jonas Gahr Støre (since 2021). The Bundeswehr Mountain Brigade acquired the functions of Arctic troops as a result of its use in NATO exercises in Finnmark, Norway. The joint use of frigates in the Arctic and the prospects of unification of submarine fleets are considered. The main tracks of cooperation between Germany and Norway in the issues of NATO grouping, arms supplies to Ukraine and training of its armed forces personnel are revealed.

About authors

Philipp O. Trunov, Cand. Sci (Polit.), Leading Researcher
1trunov@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7092-4864
Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nakhimovskiy, 51/21, Moscow, Russia

Keywords

Germany, Norway, Arctic, NATO, political dialogue, Arctic armed forces, Bundeswehr, exercises, military-technical cooperation, “deterrence” of Russia

DOI

https://doi.org/10.37482/issn2221-2698.2025.58.136

UDC

327.5(430)(481)(045)