U.S. Marines’ arrival in Norway sparks Cold War flashbacks, Russian discontent
For Norwegians, the sight of dozens of U.S. Marines traipsing through the snow in military fatigues — the first time foreign troops have been posted to their country’s territory since World War II — may have brought a welcomed sense of security, but it also harked back to a dark era of the Cold War that many had hoped to forget.
A U.S. military plane on Monday delivered most of the 330 Marines to a garrison in Vaernes, in central Norway, a deployment that Norwegian officials said had been carried out by the U.S. as part of a bilateral agreement. It was the latest effort by the U.S. and its European allies to buttress their defenses against a resurgent Russia, which condemned the move.
‘Hunt for Reds’
Despite being generally welcomed across the political spectrum, the arrival of the Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C. — shown on Norwegian television dragging their suitcases through the snow — also provoked some jitters in Norway.
A wealthy oil-rich country that is a member of NATO but not the European Union, the Nordic state has long prided itself on its independence. But the deployment recalled a Cold War era in which Russian intrigue grabbed headlines and Norwegians lived in fear of Soviet hegemony.
Neuroses about Russia continue to exert influence in Norwegian popular culture. The political television thriller “Okkupert” depicts a future in which Norway is occupied by Russia and, with the backing of the EU, takes over the country’s oil production.
Such fears have been magnified in recent years with murky sightings of submarines across the region that have stoked concern about Russian espionage and military intervention.
Last spring, several residents of Sunnfjord in the country’s west reported to Norwegian authorities that they had seen a submarine with its periscope up. But officials were not convinced that the object was in fact a submarine.
In October 2014, an unidentified vessel spotted off the Stockholm archipelago spurred Sweden’s largest mobilization since the Cold War and accusations that Russia was spying on the country. The episode, called “The Hunt for Reds in October” in the Swedish news media, included unsubstantiated reports of a man in black spotted wading near the vessel. It deeply unsettled the nation, even as the Kremlin issued strenuous denials and accused Stockholm of scaremongering.
Then, in April 2015, the sudden appearance of an underwater vessel in Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, prompted the navy to fire depth charges — the first such warning in more than 10 years.
‘Bomb target’
In Moscow, the deployment of U.S. Marines has been met with disdain.
After plans for the deployment were confirmed in October, Frants Klintsevich, a deputy chairman of Russia’s defense and security committee in the upper chamber of Parliament, was quoted by Russian news media as saying that the Kremlin viewed the Marines as a direct military threat. He also said the deployment made Norway a potential target for Moscow’s powerful arsenal, which includes nuclear weapons.
On Monday, Russian authorities reiterated their discontent.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with NRK, the Norwegian public broadcaster, that the move “certainly will not improve relations.”
“The relationship between Norway and Russia is put to a test now,” she said. “Instead of developing economic cooperation, Norway is choosing to deploy United States troops on Norwegian soil.”
In Norway, some lamented that the Marines’ arrival stood against the country’s traditions and threatened to make it a target of its much larger neighbor.
Morten Harper, a leftist member of the local assembly that governs the area housing the military base, said the Marines’ arrival was ensnaring Norway into the United States’ “power struggle” with Russia.
“We see an ever more tense foreign policy situation,” he said. “If there ever was to be a major conflict between the great powers in the future, this makes us a more likely bomb target.”