Norway, which shares a border with Russia, raises military readiness

Norway, a NATO member that shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, will raise its military readiness, its prime minister said on Monday, stressing however that no direct threat had been detected.

"The military will, as of tomorrow, raise its preparedness in Norway", Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters.

"We currently have no reason to believe that Russia wants to involve Norway or any other country directly in the war, but the war in Ukraine means it is necessary for all NATO countries to be increasingly on their guard", he added.

Norway has overtaken Russia as Europe's main natural gas supplier following Moscow's attack of Ukraine.

The Scandinavian country has already raised security around its strategic sites after mysterious drone flights were observed near its offshore oil and gas platforms and the suspected sabotage of Nord Stream's Baltic Sea pipelines.

In recent weeks, several Russians have been arrested in Norway for illegally flying drones in its airspace or violating photo restrictions in restricted areas.

Last week, Norway's counter-intelligence service also announced the arrest of a man suspected of being a Russian undercover agent, who according to experts could be a senior officer from the GRU military intelligence service.

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