Norway joins France’s nuclear umbrella as Europe rethinks security

Norway will come under France's nuclear umbrella, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr ​Stoere said, as concerns grow ‌in Europe over US commitment to the region's security.

The move by Norway is significant as it has long been a so-called Atlanticist nation, one which ​believed its security was best achieved via close alignment ​with Washington, Reuters reports.

Stoere travelled to Paris on May 27 afternoon to meet ⁠President Emmanuel Macron and sign a new defence agreement with ​France, which includes Norway joining a French-led nuclear weapons initiative.

"We are ​doing this in light of the security policy situation in Europe, including Russia's massive rearmament, also in the nuclear domain, and that it is waging a ​full-scale war against another European country," Stoere told Norwegian news agency ​NTB.

No nuclear weapons will be deployed in Norway in peacetime, he added.

‌The ⁠Nordic nation of 5.6 million inhabitants is a member of NATO, but not of the European Union, and shares a border with Russia in the Arctic.

In March, France offered to extend the ​protection of its ​nuclear umbrella to ⁠other European countries which, in practice, means that an attack on Norway could trigger a French ​nuclear response.

Norway becomes the latest country to receive ​France's ⁠nuclear protection, after Poland and Lithuania, which also share borders with Russia.

Russia and the U.S. are the world's biggest nuclear powers, with over 5,000 ⁠nuclear warheads ​each. China has about 500, France ​has 290 and Britain 225, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

By Vafa Guliyeva