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bor to the Soviet Union's
"Kola Military District,"
the area around Mur–
mansk, the U.S.S.R.'s
only year-round ice-free
port.
world's ideological gap
continued to widen , it
became obvious that secu–
rity provided by the
United N a tions was as
illusory as that otfered by
the old League of Na–
tions.
Next , the formation of
a joint Scandinavian de–
fen se league was explored
at the initiative of neigh–
bori ng Sweden.
1
t was
soon obvious , however ,
that Norway, Sweden and
Under terms of this treaty, Fin–
land is obliged to fight only on its
own territory and only in self–
defense, and only then in the event
that "Finland or the Soviet Union
through Finnish territory" were to
be attacked "by Germany or any
state all ied by the latter."
The treaty for bids Finland to
join any Western military bloc such
as NATO.
Preserving the " Nordic Balance"
Norway, because of the sensitive
relations with its powerful neighbor
to the extreme northeast,
has placed severa1 self–
imposed limits on its
NATO ties, al! with the
understanding of its
NATO allies as well as its
Nordic neighbors.
The most important
limit is that no foreign
troops can be based in
Norway as long as the
country is not attacked or
threatened.
Ho~ever,
the no- base
policy does not prevent
periodic and regular allied
maneuvers in and around
Norway. Tn fact, this
spring a huge exercise
T he Soviets today have
an extraordinary concen–
tration of forces in this
region: at least 16 military
airstrips with 300 war
planes, plus port facilities
for 230 surface ships and
200 submarines, many of
these having nuclear mis–
siles targeted on North
American sites.
According to one estí–
Units of eight NATO nations on maneuvers in northern
Norway in 1982. "Avalanche Express" exercises take
place every two years to test reinforcement plans.
"' called "Teamwork 84/Ava-
lanche Express" was held ,
involving about 40,000
Western military person-
mate, the Kola Península
comprises the densest concentration
of military power in all human his–
tory! An American official called the
region "the most valuable piece of
real estate on earth."
Postwar Debate
National security was a matter of
intense debate in the var ious Nordic
states in the immediate postwar
years.
I n the end, the Scand inavian
countries, despite their cultural
affinities, made their policy choices
on the basis of two primary consid–
erations- geography and their own
individual experiences during
World War 11.
For a while Norway used her
membership in the United Nations
in order to try to act as a bridge–
builder in overcoming differences
between the Western powers and
the Soviet Union. But as the
4
Denmark all held divergent views,
especially Sweden and Norway.
T he Swedes, neutral since 1814,
wanted a neutralized nonaligned
Nordic defense system, whereas
the Norwegians believed that a
Scandinavian league by itself sim–
ply would not have the required
deterrent effect, since it would lack
assurances of Western, especially
American and British, support. The
Scandinavian defense league idea
thus went nowhere.
Norway joined the North Atlantic
T reaty Organization as a charter
member on April 4, 1949. Iceland,
on Scandinavia's western flank, also
joined N ATO, while on the eastern
edge of the Nordic world, Finland
maintained an armed, neutral posi–
tion, tied to the security needs of the
Soviet Union through the 1948
Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation
and M utual Assistance.
nel from eight nations.
Other provisions permit the
prestocking of allied equipment,
fue! and ammunition, plus the
installation and operation of jointly
financed airfields, harbar bases and
telecommunication links- all un–
der Norwegian control.
As further reassurances to the
Soviets that Norway's membership
in NATO was purely defensive in
nature, the government in Oslo ear–
ly on declared that nuclear war–
heads would not be deployed on
Norwegian soil in peacetime.
Denmark, too, unilaterally as–
sumed similar "confidence-build–
ing" constraints.
Why were these measures taken?
To preserve the sensitive "Nordic
balance" that had emerged after the
war , which had helped preserve the
independence and freedom of all the
Nordic countries.
(Continued on page 41)
The
PLAIN TRUTH