By a commentator for Tjen Folket Media.
Yankee-imperialism pressures its allies in Europe to increase military spending. NRK and Klassekampen both report that the US ambassador in Norway is applying pressure on politicians. The government has answered that military spending has never been higher than it is today.
NRK writes:
Hårek Elvenes, in the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence for the Conservative Party, says that Norway takes these demands with the utmost seriousness. Now, more of the country’s GNP is used for defence, he says.
“When the government entered office in 2013, we added an additional 1.4%. Now we have arrived at 1.72%, so we are moving in the right direction. We buy new surveillance plans and new u-boats, and we have doubled the budget of our intelligence services,” he says.
Klassekampen writes that it is not only the Conservative Party that heeds the demands of the Yankee ambassador:
Anniken Huitfeldt (Labour), leader of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, also confirms having met with Donald Trump’s man in Norway:
“I have had regular meetings with foreign ambassadors in Oslo, as well as the US’s ambassador”, writes Huitfeldt in an SMS to Klassekampen.
Tjen Folket Media has earlier written about militarization and a record high military budget in Norway. The Norwegian state is an independent imperialist with its own ambitions. But it is also closely allied with the US and operates under the leadership of US imperialism. Norwegian imperialism is a junior partner in, for instance, the war against Afghanistan, which has continued for nearly two decades.
The relationship between these imperialists manifests in the fact that the US has bases in European countries, including Norway. Bases that contribute to the US’s globally spanning military apparatus. NRK also reports that the US – officially – has 50,000 soldiers stationed in Europe.
See also:
United States Marine Corps og Norge
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