Senior Course 142 Field Study 3: Visit to Norway

On 5 June 2023, the session in Norway started with an Office Call by Lieutenant General Olivier Rittimann, Commandant of the NATO Defense College, with the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Mr Bjørn Arild Gram. Subsequently, Ms Anne Marie Aanerud, State Secretary, provided her welcome remarks, thanking the NDC for returning to Norway after 5 years, and pointing to the many challenges that had marked the intervening period: Afghanistan, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, considered as a threat to our democracies. Ms Aanerud indicated that Norway had provided Ukraine with support worth EUR 6.5 billion so far, also highlighting that since Russia’s invasion, Norway had become the most important energy provider in Europe, which was why protecting infrastructure was now vital not only for Norway, but also for the whole of Europe. Ms Aanerud also spoke about Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO, looking at the new opportunities for cooperation and ahead to the next NATO Summit to be held in Vilnius, reiterating Norway’s intention to support Ukraine and announcing that Norway would reach the 2% target for defence expenditure by 2026.

The first briefing of the day, on Norwegian security and defence policy, was presented by Mr Henning Vaglum, Director General of the Department of Security Policy and Operations at the Ministry of Defence, who started by providing an overview of the High North, Norway’s most important area of responsibility in view of its vast natural resources, notably oil and gas, and went on to focus on potential threats, such as climate change, which could affect sea lines of transportation for energy. Mr Vaglum explained how NATO’s attention was now mainly on Europe due to the drastic changes in the continent’s security environment, and pointed out that Norway had started to increase its defence investment since the invasion of Crimea in 2014, in order to better adapt the security and defence system to the new challenges and threats. During the ensuing Q&A session, Course Members focused on Russia-China cooperation on resources and military interests in the High North (mainly the Barents Sea) and on how to properly counter this challenge.

Next, a presentation on “Secret Services’ Annual Reports” was delivered by Vice-Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, Head of the National Intelligence Service and Ms Sofie Nystrøm, Director of Norwegian National Security, who provided an overview of the security situation around Europe, with a special focus on Russia and the Arctic Region. VADM Stensønes observed that although Russia had high ambitions in the Arctic region, it had no interest in escalating its presence there. China is an important partner for Russia and Chinese interest in the region is expected to increase in the near future, together with cooperation with Russia. He added that as Europe’s main energy provider, Norway was now a high-value target for Russia, and while an attack was not expected, infrastructure did need to be protected. In this context, Norway had to be prepared to prevent and counter espionage, sabotage and cyber actions as well as undesirable economic activities, which had lately been on the increase. The two experts, at the end of their presentations, answered questions from Course Members regarding the protection of resources and infrastructure, the Russian threat, China and terrorism, among other topics.

The following panel discussion was on “The War in Ukraine and Western Military Cooperation”, moderated by SC142 Vice-President Mr Kjell Inge Bjerga. The panel was composed of Lieutenant General (Ret.) Arne Bård Dalhaug, former NDC Commandant from 2011 to 2014, Professor Janne Haaland Matlary, from the University of Oslo, and Professor Katarzyna Zysk, from the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. Panellists gave their outlook on the war in Ukraine, assessing that the desired end state, i.e. the liberation of occupied territories, would only come through continued defeat on the battlefield, together with long-term deterrence from EU and NATO, in order to convince Moscow to change tack. They also spoke about the Arctic and how Russia considers the region as a high priority, as evident in many official Russian strategic documents. A Q&A session followed the panel discussion, with a special focus on Russia’s ambitions to expand its territory, and the strategic importance of liberating Crimea in order to stop Russia from threatening Ukraine and Baltic countries.

After lunch, SC 142 Course Members started the afternoon with a briefing on “NATO and the New Nordic Allies”, delivered by H.E. Mr Øystein Bø, Norwegian Ambassador-Designate to Poland and former Permanent Representative of Norway to NATO from 2018 to 2022, who gave a historical description of events before Finland joined NATO and explained how Finland and Sweden – when the latter eventually completes the accession process – will add value to the Alliance. He also underlined the difficulties and resistance encountered from some countries, and the work done to convince them.

The last briefing of the day, entitled “Svalbard, The Northernmost Norway. Key Elements of the Svalbard Treaty and Norwegian Policy”, was presented by Mr Kristian Jervell, Director General of the Legal Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a brief introduction on the geographical, demographic and infrastructural aspects of the island, the briefer spoke about the history of the Svalbard Treaty and the controversial situation which is still creating problems for Norway. Many questions asked by Course Members regarded the strategic interests associated with the island, the use of treaty provisions for military purposes and Russian interests relating to Svalbard.

The day in Oslo ended on a high note with a remarkable boat tour reception hosted by Vice-Admiral Elisabeth Natvig, Norway’s Chief of Defence Staff.

The following day, Ms Ine Eriksen Søreide, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in the Storting or Norwegian Parliament, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence, started the academic session by providing some insights on the current Norwegian security policy. Russia had started changing the international environment some years before the war in Ukraine, with the attack on Georgia in 2008, continuing with the invasion of Crimea in 2014, which had led Norway to increase its maritime presence in the North Sea as a show of readiness aimed at Moscow. Speaking about Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO, Ms Eriksen Søreide said both countries would be very good Allies, adding value and bringing benefits to the Alliance as a whole. A Q&A session gave Course Members the possibility to learn more on the Norwegian security posture.

Professor Ole Gunnar Austvik, specializing in Political Economy and Petroleum Economics, presented a briefing on “The Geopolitics of Energy”, which looked at parallels between the trends in energy consumption over the last 20-25 years and related changes on the international scene. Questions posed by Course Members mainly focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and underlying geopolitical considerations, power plants and energy dependencies.

“The Total Defence Concept” was the topic of the day’s panel discussion with Mr Lars Lyckander Aune, Chief of Incident Management to the National Police Commissioner; Mr Herald Rasmussen, Deputy Director General at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection; and Lieutenant Colonel Jan Tore Johansen, from the Norwegian Armed Forces. The three panellists remarked on the importance of cooperation between the Armed Forces, the Police and Civil Protection to counter common challenges, and gave information on the Norwegian organizational structure, including the role of the Joint Operations Command, able to task and prepare joint assets tailored for specific purposes, as well as in the case of terrorist attacks and search and rescue activities. Questions put to the panellists by Course Members on hybrid threats and strategic communications enriched the discussion and elicited more insights for the audience.

The afternoon session started with a presentation on “Artificial Intelligence”, delivered by Research Fellow Johanne Jensen Skeie, from the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. After providing a general overview of the topic, the researcher focused on how to exploit this technology, with special emphasis on its use in the High North for gathering data, and how to integrate it into the defence system. The speaker also looked at the possible problems and challenges of this new technology, including significant investments in AI by China and Russia and the issues around facilitating human-machine cooperation and ensuring humans are properly incorporated in the loop. During the Q&A period, Course Members were eager to hear more about standardization for better data-sharing, interoperability among NATO countries, resilience, hardware and the monopoly on the production of microchips.

The last briefing of the day was on “The Norwegian Long-Term Plan 2024”, presented by Marianne Skuse, Deputy Director General of the Defence Planning Section at the Ministry of Defence, who gave a general overview of Norwegian defence planning and long-term planning processes, focusing on investments, the modernization of defence systems, challenges, and the new force structure designed to ensure better alignment with Norway’s new defence policy. A discussion ensued with questions by Course Members on investments in cyber and unmanned vehicles, as well as on submarine warfare and air defence.

This concluded the Norwegian part of Field Study 3.

NDC Public Affairs Office