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Germany's Chancellor to Cold Response
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit Norway on Friday, March 13, at the invitation of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. This is Merz's first official visit to Norway.
"In a time of great international uncertainty, I look forward to welcoming our most important partner in Europe. Norway and Germany have a close and close cooperation economically, in security policy, militarily and in a number of other areas," says Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre according to a press release.
On the agenda are both space travel and the military exercise Cold Response. Støre and Merz will meet to discuss, among other things, defense and security cooperation, the situation in Ukraine, and space cooperation.
Canadian foreign minister calls for permanent NATO presence in the Arctic
The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, said NATO must turn its focus to the North at a major defence and security conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
This was reported by CBC.
"Last August, I raised the point about ensuring that NATO has efforts that are geared towards Arctic security and protection, and my foreign minister colleagues around that table, the Nordic Five, agreed with me wholeheartedly," she said.
The Nordic Five includes Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Anand said Canada wants a NATO Arctic strategy that is more comprehensive than the Arctic Sentry mission launched earlier this year, and that includes a permanent presence in the region.
She said she planned to discuss the topic with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte later in the day.
Denmark provides F-35 fighter jets to NATO s Arctic Sentry
NATO has launched the mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic, part of an effort to defuse tensions within the alliance prompted by the U.S. president's push to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
"Our F-35 contribution strengthens the overall presence in the region and underscores Denmark's role as an active ally in the Arctic and North Atlantic," Denmarks minister of defense, Trouls Lund Poulsen said in a statement.
Poulsen also expects the United States to contribute to the NATO mission, he told reporters ahead of the Munich Security Conference.