David Lammy in Norway: "Thank You for Keeping the Sea Safe and The Lights Lit"

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"I am thrilled to have my good colleague, the foreign secretary from the United Kingdom, David Lammy, here in Bodø, in the Arctic. We had a great day of discussions at The Norwegian Joint Headquarters (NJHQ)," said the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, as the two Labor politicians met the Northern Norwegian press.

The Foreign Secretary came to Norway on Wednesday to discuss deepening defense and security ties with Norway and tackling threats from Russia with his Norwegian counterpart.

David Lammy called Norway “our eyes and ears in the High North” and “a key ally in the defense of NATO’s northern flank” ahead of a trip to the Nordics.

The British Labor Party won by a landslide in the UK at the start of July. Shortly after the election, Lammy contacted his Norwegian colleague and promised to visit Norway within his first 100 days in office.

"And here I am. I made it."

The hundreds

Lammy said it is wonderful being in Norway.

“There are so many areas that Norway and the UK have worked together on for so many years. As I walked up to the NJHQ today, I was reminded of the many great men and women from both our countries who sacrificed so much during World War II. We have had a very important security partnership in the northern regions for over 50 years,” said Lammy.

“And we thank Norway for their expertise and keeping the seas safe and the lights on.”

For several decades, Great Britain has been the country to which Norway exports the most oil.

Share intelligence

Lammy also set out to further share intelligence and to strengthen cooperation to counter Russian disinformation networks in Europe and beyond, the British Foreign Office informed ahead of the trip.

"We had a good briefing on the new and more complicated security situation," confirmed Espen Barth Eide.

He highlighted that the UK and Norway have long-standing ties in security and defense, including the maritime domain.

“We are working to strengthen this further.”

Outsiders together

What common ground have Great Britain and Norway found as countries outside the EU?

“The UK now has a Labor government that is very close to us politically. We have always been fond of Britain, but as a social democrat, I am now extra happy as Labor governs because it means we agree on so much more than with a Conservative government,” Espen Barth Eide said smiling.

“We will absolutely take advantage of that”

“And as neither of us are members of the European Union, we exchanged some views on that,” he added.

Passion for nature

The two like-minded politicians also found common ground on the issue of climate and nature; Barth Eide has previously held the position of Minister of Climate and Environment, and David Lammy is a passionate advocate for reversing climate change.

“His first major speech as foreign secretary was not about security policy but about climate and nature. The Arctic is very interesting to him, and in the northern Arctic, climate change acts four times faster than the global average,” Espen Barth Eide said, nodding to his colleague.

“Unfortunately, what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. The changes we see in our immediate areas affect the global climate.”

Migrating fish

Lammy also takes a great interest in how climate change affects fish stocks.

“He and I, as a former climate minister, share a strong experience that this is also a major foreign policy topic in our time. I greatly appreciate Lammy's strong focus on climate and nature. We, as foreign ministers, must remember to speak up and work for the climate. There are no greater challenges for humanity than the ongoing climate crisis. We must take care of what is left of nature and natural diversity," said Espen Barth Eide.

The UK secretary stated that there is much work to be done in these tough and challenging times. And not only for the sake of the UK and Norway.

"Like the climate crisis, and of course, security in Ukraine," said Lemmy, making it very clear that Vladimir Putin's aggression in any way or form is unacceptable.

"We must repel the aggression from Vladimir Putin, and his new imperialism that suggests a big country can overnight take over a smaller neighbor. We must stand up, just as we stood up during that terrible time in the 20th century, during World War II."

Shared values

The ministers also had a chat about the introduction of Finland and Sweden into NATO, and the northern flank. 

"We discussed the security front with the threats we see. Of course, I cannot share all of these because of the unique intelligence relationship between the UK and Norway. But against these threats, we are determined to stand up for our shared values," David Lammy said.

Espen Barth Eide confirmed that Great Britain and Norway have a close relationship and cooperate well on both global and regional issues.

Hot war

“What has been particularly important in Bodø is to talk about our defense and security policy cooperation in the new context,” says Barth Eide, referring to Russia’s strategic weapons close to the Norwegian border.

“A hot war in Europe, a completely different relationship with Russia, and just outside our living room door, Russia has some of its most important military capabilities. These are also of interest to the United Kingdom,” said Barth Eide.

"Not least, we have a very close cooperation regarding the naval forces towards the Barents Sea. We have gone into this in-depth, and even if this collaboration has been going on for many years, it is important that the new British Foreign Secretary knows the depth of this and what we see as a neighboring country to Russia."

Getting colder

Even if the war is hot, it is starting to resemble a cold war.

“There is much in today's situation that is like the situation we had when there was a Cold War. The biggest security challenge to Great Britain, Norway, and the entire NATO alliance lies in Russia under Putin's rule, just east of us, just east of Norway,” Barth Eide said, pointing to the Kola Peninsula.

“It is important that the UK and Norway step up yet again and further develop the cooperation we had in the past but adapted to today's challenges.”

Most important ally

“We have also talked about hybrid threats, those that may not come in the form of classic war, but which we see a good deal of in our areas that we would rather be without,” Norway’s MFA informed.

“And a great deal of what comes our way is controlled from Moscow.”

“Britain is our most important ally in Europe.”