NATO Secretary General visits Norway’s High North in preparation for the Summit in The Hague

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited northern Norway on Thursday (22 May 2025), where he met Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, and Minister of Defence Tore Sandvik. The Secretary General also observed a demonstration of NATO’s multidomain capabilities in the High North.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Gahr Støre aboard the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Svalbard, the Secretary General praised Norway’s leadership and emphasised the strategic importance of the region. He said the visit was important not only for NATO and Norway, but also for understanding how Allies are working together to keep NATO territory safe.

Secretary General Rutte underlined the value of coordination among the seven NATO countries with territory in the High North: Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. “With Norway being one of the seven High North countries, this is an important element of this vision to understand better what is the situation in the High North,” he said. “We are doing more and more together, and also NATO is getting more and more involved to see how we can best coordinate all those efforts. And we know that these sea lanes are opening up, that the Russians and the Chinese are more and more active here.”

Turning to the NATO Summit in The Hague, the Secretary General noted the need to increase defence spending. He emphasised that Allies must invest in order to deliver the capabilities needed to defend NATO not only today, but in the years ahead, "knowing that Russia is actively reconstituting itself." Mr Rutte also pointed to China’s military build-up and ongoing terrorist threats as examples of why NATO Allies will need to invest well above the 2% of GDP target.

The Secretary General also highlighted the importance of civil preparedness. “Norway is an absolute leader when it comes to a whole society approach,” he said. “We need the whole society to be involved if the Russians are a long term threat.”