Norway must closely follow Russia's military activity: defense chief

Norway must closely follow Russia's military activity even though it currently poses no military threat to the Nordic country, Norwegian Chief of Defence Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen said Tuesday.

"2014 has been a year where we have experienced major changes in our security environment. Russia has demonstrated the ability and willingness to use military force to achieve political objectives," Bruun-Hanssen said in his introduction to the 2014 annual defense report.

"It is important to emphasize that Russia today is not considered to pose a military threat to Norway, but we must continue to follow closely in our region," he said.

Norwegian officials recently have been voicing concerns about Russia's military modernization and its increased military activity in the Arctic.

Bruun-Hanssen said in the introduction that at the end of 2014 Norway initiated measures to increase its military presence at sea, in the air and on land in the north.

In mid-March, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to put the Northern Fleet, certain units of airborne forces and the Western Military District on full combat alert as part of snap checks.

The drill, which involves 38,000 military, 3,360 units of equipment, 41 warships, 15 submarines, and 110 planes and helicopters, was meant to evaluate the capabilities of the Northern Fleet to ensure Russia's military security in the Arctic.

Meanwhile, Norway, a member of the military alliance NATO, carried out a massive military exercise dubbed "Joint Viking" from March 9 to 18 in the northern region of Finnmark, which borders Russia's Murmansk Oblast.

About 5,000 Norwegian servicemen from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Special Forces, National Guard and other units were involved in the exercise, which is the biggest military exercise in the region in nearly 50 years. Enditem