#norway-uk-defense-deal

#norway-uk-defense-deal

Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and deescalate Middle East animosities, affirming their resolve to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.

Attempting to eke out the remaining oil and gas from the North Sea was not the answer to the challenges facing the UK. It will not bring down the price for consumers, nor will it deliver long-term energy security. The international markets will determine the price and destination; that is not energy independence.

Austria's Defense Ministry stated, 'There have indeed been requests and they were refused from the outset.' The refusal is based on the country's neutrality policy, which has been in effect since 1955.

We don't authorise either the use of military bases or the use of airspace for actions related to the war in Iran, the minister, Margarita Robles, told reporters. I think everyone knows Spain's position. It's very clear, she added, calling the war profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is visiting Norway on Friday for talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, with space cooperation and NATO defense ties high on the agenda. The two leaders began the day at the Andoya spaceport, where the Bavarian startup Isar Aerospace plans to launch rockets carrying European satellites into orbit.

We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity. This is quite natural given the target – the US embassy – and the security situation the world is in today.

There was a feeling that the prime minister had to be dragged there. It obviously reflects badly in the eyes of the Gulf Cooperation Council. This response has caused unease among strategic partners, with some officials voicing concerns that London was slow to commit military assets and lacked visible presence following drone and missile activity affecting the eastern Mediterranean.

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Guten morgen from Bonn, where the snow and ice from the weekend have given way to cloudy skies and rain. In this blog, we will bring you the latest news from and about Germany, including calls from the head of the country's Armed Forces reservist association for European and German troops to be deployed to Greenland to ward off threats of annexation from the US and President Donald Trump.

Britain is to develop new air defence weapons alongside the EU's four biggest military powers, deepening ties with the European defence sector. The project will invite manufacturers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Poland to submit plans to build low-cost missiles and autonomous drones. The allies are pledging a speedy process to build the weapons together, inspired by Ukraine's development of cheap drones to counter attacks from Russia.

We don't exclude a land grab from Russia as part of their plan to protect their own nuclear capabilities, which is the only thing they have left that actually threatens the United States, said Gen Eirik Kristoffersen, Norway's chief of defence.

The British government has not given permission for the US to use UK military bases to support potential US strikes on Iran, the BBC understands. The US has in the past used RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, and the UK overseas territory of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, to carry out strikes in the Middle East region. A UK government spokesperson said: "As routine, we do not comment on operational matters."

The Arctic is strategically vital - packed with shipping lanes and untapped resources. Britain is sending a clear warning to Moscow and rivals: stay out or face serious consequences. The warships will exercise with NATO partners, boosting readiness and deterrence against any threats. Analysts say this raises the stakes in Arctic geopolitics and proves Britain can project power far from home waters.