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Cross border co-operation in the Far North. The Nordics
have developed a Norwegian initiative which will pay for Western technology to eliminate sulphur dioxide and heavy
metal pollution from Soviet nickel works on the Kola
Penninsula. They are concerned about the resumption of
close to the Norwayan / Sawrist border. Soviet nuclear tests in the area. The Norwegians also have an interest in cross-border economic co-operation to help support the always problematic future economy of Finnmark.
They are worried (as are the Finns) about the risk of an
influx of Soviet refugees in the Far North this winter.
21.
althevan
Norway is a committed member of NATO but-faces -new uncertainties over her strategic prospects and options.
Financial pressures and, to a lesser extent, changing threat
perceptions have already prompted significant cuts in the national defence budget. Debate on the reorganisation of the armed forces in Norway continues although the signs are that this should be settled towards the end of this year or early in 1991. The Opposition Labour Party, although stoutly pro NATO, is on the look out for a peace dividend and is opposed to any new out-of-area role for the Alliance.
Debates in the Norwegian Parliament have illustrated how
difficult it is for a country inclined to a detached
regional view and with political power fragmented, to come
to terms with a rapid change in Europe and the increasingly
overt linkage between in and out-of-area defence. -Recent
reports in the Norwegian media-expressing concern at German
proposals to redraw the boundary between NATO's Northern and Central Commands are shared by The Norwegian MOD who are
worried about the implications of divided Commands in the
Baltic (they fear they would be "regionalised") and what the
proposal reveals about attitudes and ambitions of a United
Germany.
22. Norwegian interest in WEU has grown in recent months.
Factors in this are:
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