Norway has decided to increase military support to Ukraine this year by NOK2.5 billion ($249 million) to NOK10 billion ($950 million) as part of the previously adopted Nansen program on military and civilian support to Ukraine of NOK15 billion annually, the Norwegian government website said Tuesday.
“Ukraine is now in urgent need of additional military support and materials. Norway is therefore increasing its military support to Ukraine by NOK2.5 billion to NOK10 billion in 2023,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a press conference marking the opening of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
In addition, Norway has also decided to increase its contribution to NATO’s Ukraine support fund to NOK300 million ($29 million) annually.
“Norway is increasing its contribution to the NATO support fund for Ukraine. Norway will contribute NOK300 million in 2023 and contribute a total of NOK1.5 billion over five years. This is a clear signal of long-term support for Ukraine’s reforms, which will further connect Ukraine to the Alliance,” the Norwegian prime minister said.
Stere also spoke about the decision to increase Norway’s investment in its own defense to a minimum of 2% of GDP.
The summit will also decide on the establishment of a NATO center for critical undersea infrastructure. “The war in Ukraine has shown once again that the protection of critical infrastructure is important for security policy. As the largest supplier of gas to Europe, Norway has a special responsibility to protect submarine infrastructure… NATO is now establishing a separate center for the protection of critical submarine infrastructure,” the Norwegian prime minister told the summit.
According to Støre, the Vilnius summit “will be the most important NATO summit of our time.”
“Among other things, we will undertake a historic increase in NATO’s collective defense capabilities with regional defense plans that have been updated for the first time since the Cold War,” he said.
The prime minister said the summit’s decisions will be important for both the entire Alliance and Norway’s security, and there are at least four reasons why the summit is crucial for the Norwegian state. “First, it will strengthen NATO’s ability to fulfill its primary task, namely the defense of member states in crisis and war. Second, the increased defense contribution means a clear strengthening of its own preparedness, security and defense capabilities. Thirdly, the summit will decide on the establishment of a separate center for the protection of undersea infrastructure, which is of fundamental importance to Norway. And fourth, the membership of Finland, and now Sweden, means a stronger Northern Europe in NATO,” Støre emphasized.
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell hopes that a decision will be found this week to unlock another tranche of EUR 500 million in military support for Ukraine.
He said this at a press conference after a meeting of the Council at the level of defense ministers of the member countries of the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday.
Borrell said this issue is still under discussion. He said any hurdles to approve this amount will be overcome this week and it was the subject of discussion at the technical meeting of the committee.
As it is known, the allocation of this amount is blocked by Hungary, arguing that one of its banks is on the Ukrainian “black list.”
