Page 31 - Norwegian Special Report

Reshaping Norwegian Defense

At the recent conference which I attended in Norway, there were three foreign policy speakers all of whom
expressed deep concern with developments in the UK and the US. One even made the amazing statement
that the election of President Trump and Brexit where the most dramatic changes in the past thirty years! And
one of the speakers provided an indictment of the President that was truly amazing to listen to as the
Administration to date has just started, is not fully staffed and has several solid beginnings under its belt,
notably the close working relationship with Japan, the Abe visit to New York, the Pacific and then to DC to
meet the President. General Mattis has visited the Pacific and reaffirmed the core commitments of the US in
the region.

One can suspect that there are those abroad who are using the Trump effect for their domestic advantages
and creating a threat which is simply not there. I did talk to many Norwegians at the Conference and in Oslo,
and while there is concern, more about uncertainty than anything else, my message was pretty simple – it is
early days and the track record in terms of actual policy has been to reaffirm U.S. commitments and not to run
from them.

The President was elected to change U.S. policy and he will. But as the Norwegian Defense Minister has
indicated it is early days. My observations of her at the Conference and in my discussion with her, it is clear
that she is a tough minded individual who will clearly argue the Norwegian case to here allies, and certainly
to her counterpart, General Mattis. With this kind of leadership, although we face significant challenges, a
solid path forward can almost certainly be found.

The Minister provided her perspective earlier this week in a conference on security policy held in Norway and
these remarks were published on the Norwegian Ministry of Defence website.

Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide's opening remarks:
Leangkollenseminaret 2017

February 13, 2017

By Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide
Norwegian Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide held these remarks at the Security Seminar at Leangkollen
February 13th 2017.

Distinguished collegues, former ministers, guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It’s good to be back here at the annual Leangkollen seminar. I want to thank the Norwegian Atlantic
Committee, Kate and her good associates for pulling it off - in style - once again. This has become an
important venue for addressing key security issues, and I’m happy to see such a great turnout.

This year’s topic is “Security in Northern Europe after Crimea, Brexit and the U.S. election”. Let us dwell for a
moment on this extraordinary combination of words in one sentence: “Security in Northern Europe. After
Crimea. Brexit. And the U.S. election”…
Imagine you just woke up from a three-year hibernation and were told that Russia has taken a part of
Ukraine, the UK has decided to leave the European Union and Donald Trump is now the new president of the
United States.

Would you believe it?

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