Norway and NATO
STORING, JAMES A.
NORWAY AND NATO 'Most Norwegians today support NATO not because they are wildly enthusiastic about it but because they regard it as the only choice open to them' By James A. Storing NORWAY'S...
...Norway, however, was not able to play the role of harmonizer within the United Nations very long...
...After the war, Norwegian political leaders placed great hope in the collective security system promised by the League of Nations...
...Norway redoubled its effort to strengthen the United Nations and to bring the two antagonists closer together...
...They fear incidents—precipitated by accident or stupidity—that may draw them into limited or unlimited war, and they are concerned lest NATO lose its democratic character...
...Before this, during the 1945-49 period, Norwegians again placed great confidence in a world organization calculated to preserve the peace...
...More recently, the downing of the American RB-47 spurred another exchange of notes between the USSR and Norway which might have given grave concern to a man more timid than Norwegian Foreign Minister Halvard Lange...
...Events in Cuba and the Congo have also caused concern in the Norwegian Government, largely because it fears percipitous action by either the United States or the Soviet Union...
...Sweden was particularly interested in promoting such an arrangement, but unwilling to accept the Norwegian condition that any Scandinavian defense organization must have an unmistakable orientation toward the West...
...It was a great disappointment to the Norwegians when the United States failed to join the League and a greater source of dismay when the League was weakened by the actions of Britain and France and finally emasculated when the Rome-Berlin Axis came to dominate Europe...
...During World War I, in spite of great sacrifices (including the loss of about half of its merchant fleet), Norway remained scrupulously neutral...
...Norwegians accepted membership in NATO in 1949 with certain reservations...
...As a matter of fact, most Norwegians support NATO not because they are wildly enthusiastic about it but because they view it as the only choice open to them...
...Like many Europeans, the Norwegians are worried about the immediate future, afraid that the United States will be made impotent by preoccupation with the Presidential election...
...and at present it seems inconceivable that the Labor party's anti-NATO forces will gain enough power to cause a serious change in the party's foreign policy...
...The Norwegians are a proud, intensely nationalistic people...
...Protracted negotiations during 1948-49 demonstrated conclusively that Sweden was unwilling to permit a Scandinavian union to become affiliated with the West in any direct manner...
...Moreover, the liberation of northern Norway by Soviet troops and their subsequent early withdrawal fostered confidence in the belief that Norway had nothing to fear from the Soviet Union...
...It would be extremely shortsighted to dismiss Norwegian opposition to NATO as the work of dreamy-eyed idealists...
...Karl Evang...
...France and the United Kingdom are not to be found in Norway...
...Though the ConstituJAMES A. STORNG, Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, has just returned from Norway...
...Of course an attempt is being made to freshen up the old case by bringing it into line with present day events...
...tion was written in 1814, it was not until 1905 that the union with Sweden was dissolved and modern Norwegian nationalism developed...
...But in spite of these concerns, membership in NATO still remains an essential part of the foreign policy of the present Norwegian Labor Government...
...They are not unmindful of the anti-democratic tradition in Germany and are beginning to show concern over the "De Gaulle-Bonn axis" in NATO...
...And it is likely to remain so...
...And occupation is a threat that creates an apprehension not too difficult to understand if one appreciates the physical as well as the psychological suffering endured by the Norwegians during the German occupation in World War II...
...Formal ratification took place on May 12, and the treaty went into effect on August 24...
...Evang and his group or on the anti-American outbursts occasionally seen in some Norwegian newspapers...
...They have consistently opposed any attempts to bring Spain into NATO and should the United States press this issue a concerted public opinion might force the Norwegian Government to withdraw...
...Consequently it was natural for the Norwegian Government to fall back on its prewar policy of neutrality...
...The only alternative was a strong Scandinavian defense pact...
...for example...
...NATO planning groups are allowed in the country, but their presence is most annoying to the Norwegians who are outspoken in their opposition to their country's NATO commitments...
...First came the L-2 incident, in which Norway seemed to have been somewhat involved, with no apparent justification...
...When the war broke out in 1939, Norway was attempting to keep free of all entanglements and, though contemptuous of Hitlerian policies and practices, its Government was equally vehement in protesting against the invasion of territorial waters by both the British and the Germans...
...But this argument is not taken seriously by most of the Norwegian people...
...Many Norwegian leaders, including Christian Lange (the father of the present Foreign Minister) and Fridtj of Nansen, made significant contributions to the League in important policy and administrative positions...
...NATO contingents like those stationed in Germany...
...Norway's respected Surgeon General, has added a new twist to his old argument by contending that NATO makes aid to underdeveloped countries difficult and suggesting that if Norway withdrew from NATO it could—in some manner not quite clear—jump into the leadership of a neutral Afro-Asian bloc...
...No serious change in policy occurred until 1949 when Norway joined NATO...
...The non-Communist element, consisting mostly of small groups in the Labor and Liberal parties with leadership drawn from idealistic neutralists, uses the same arguments today that it used in 1949...
...And this is what is giving responsible leaders in Norway more concern than the arguments of the neutralists...
...There is little likelihood that the Government will be unseated in the September 1961 Parliamentary elections...
...Norway is in an unenviable position in the event of a serious controversy that might involve NATO...
...Although domestic politics and parliamentary relations may not upset NATO in Norway, ill-considered policies, unfortunate statements, thoughtless speeches and accidental events, originating abroad (and more specifically in the United States), may change the situation with dramatic suddenness...
...NORWAY AND NATO 'Most Norwegians today support NATO not because they are wildly enthusiastic about it but because they regard it as the only choice open to them' By James A. Storing NORWAY'S CONFIDENCE in North Atlantic Treaty Organization commitments has unquestionably been put to the test...
...After the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 it became apparent that a neutralistic policy was untenable and that a choice would have to be made between East and West...
...Their state is young...
...It includes Communists, of course, though they are not nearly as strong as they were 11 years ago...
...They had high hopes that the United Nations might succeed where the League of Nations failed...
...But it soon became evident that a serious rift had developed between the Western powers and the Soviet Union...
...Some of the opponents may be a little dreamy and others are certainly irresponsible, but the hazards that NATO faces in Norway do not rest on the arguments of Dr...
...After five years of occupation by the Germans—a period considered by the Norwegians even today to have been the most trying in the country's history—a serious re-assessment of Norwegian foreign policy, particularly its former neutralistic aspects, was undertaken...
...Traditionally the country has been neutralistic...
...When it became apparent that this disagreement could not be resolved, the Norwegian Government accepted the invitation to join NATO and its action was approved by the Storting (parliament) on March 29, 1949, by a vote of 130 to 13, with only two non-Communists voting against the treaty...
...This new group is not much different from the group that opposed NATO in 1949...
...The Government made clear, not only to NATO members but to the Soviet Union, that it would not join in any policy of aggression or permit foreign troops to be stationed on Norwegian soil...
...Norway, on the other hand, was convinced that Scandinavia could be assured adequate military protection only by close association with the other North Atlantic powers...
...Not only is the country viewed by NATO officials as a valuable spring-board in the event of an attack upon the West, but some 130 miles of common frontier with the Soviet Union makes an occupation of a large section of northern Norway relatively easy...
...They are understandably worried...
...The wartime cooperation between the great powers and the good will evident in San Francisco—at least on the surface—seemed to offer hope...
...Thus they may have to give up part of their independence of action in external affairs, but they cannot tolerate any policy that may lead to foreign control of strictly internal affairs...
...During the late '30s Norway was forced to give up its faith in the League and collective security and return again to an independent neutralistic policy...
...The Norwegian people clearly recognize that their small state is necessarily forced into international political situations dictated by the larger powers...
Vol. 44 • October 1960 • No. 41
