GARDERMOEN (Daily): – I’m worried. It is clear that there is a lot of activity related to the mapping and monitoring of security-worthy objects and central infrastructure that we should be very aware of now.
This is what Venstre’s leader, Guri Melby, tells Dagbladet.
Moved Thursday armed police at the largest gas treatment plant in Europe in Kårstø, in the municipality of Tysvær, and on Friday the police in the southwest confirmed that the call was due to observation of a drone.
After the losses on Nord Stream 1 and 2, several drone observations were made in Norway. There was one earlier this week The Russians stopped in Storskog with drones – and on Saturday another was arrested after observing photographs at Tromsø airport.
Melby believes that the time has come for all Norwegians to pay more attention to what is happening around us.
– He has been flying drones in Norway for months
– Live in another time
When the Liberal Party gathers this weekend for its national meeting in Gardermoen, it is in a heavy context. Much attention is focused on the war in Ukraine, the security situation in Europe and Putin’s aggression.
Melby has repeatedly criticized the government for falling behind when it comes to sanctions against Russia and has long advocated a total ban on ports for Russian vessels in Norway, including fishing vessels.
While he feels there are still many areas where we do not have a sufficiently high level of preparedness today, Melby is happy with what he feels is a clear sign that supervision in Norway now appears to be strengthened.
Expert: – Definitely a professional drone
– You can probably say it was a bit extraordinary, but now we may have gotten to it, Melby tells Dagbladet.
Although Venstre’s leader points out that oversight of potential Russian activity in Norway is a job for the intelligence services, police and defense, Melby believes it is also important for general oversight in Norwegian society.
– It is important for companies that deal with sensitive things and in the general population. I think we just have to realize that we are in a different time and that we don’t always have to think that “it’s probably not something dangerous”. A little more often, we should think this might be something we need to be aware of, says Melby.
– It will be a disaster
It does not exclude sharpening
This was stated on Friday by the Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp). Norway has now stepped up preparedness in the north to the Russian border to control entry and exit.
– So far, it doesn’t appear to have changed drastically, but we are ready to close the border at very short notice if necessary, Mehl told NTB.
The Minister of Justice does not rule out that there may be a further tightening of border controls following recent events, but says that at the moment it is not appropriate to completely close the border in Storskog.
100 days of enemy captivity
– Here I believe that the government has made a pragmatic assessment, as the number of people crossing the border is at a level which means we have the opportunity to check who is coming and what kind of intentions they have. So for now I think the government response here is a source of confidence, Melby says of the government response.
At the same time, it is clear that the Liberal Party will give full support to the closure of borders if the government deems it necessary, both for security reasons and potentially others, such as solidarity with Europe.
– Here the government has made good assessments, because there are several considerations to make. We will not close the border because it is symbolically important, we will do so if there is something that actually threatens our security.
