Norway’s view on long war in Ukraine drives easing of arms export rule

PARIS — Norway’s break with decades-old restrictions on arms export this year was driven by the possibility that Ukraine may be facing a long war with Russia, according to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

The Norwegian government allowed its defense industry to sell directly to Ukraine as of Jan. 1, creating an exemption to a ban from 1959 on arms and ammunition sales to areas at war. Companies must still apply for export licenses for direct sales of weapons to Ukraine.

“Taken into consideration that the war could be going on for a long time, the Norwegian government believes it is important to give the Ukrainian authorities the possibility to purchase the weapons and the ammunition that they need the most, in addition to the donations that they receive,’’ Foreign Affairs State Secretary Eivind Vad Petersson said in an emailed reply to questions.

The war in Ukraine has caused attitudes to arms exports to shift across NATO countries and allies, including Germany becoming a prolific exporter of weapons to an active conflict zone, and Japan relaxing strict export regulations for defense equipment in December. Now the likes of Norway are preparing for the long haul.

Some Western European countries are still holdouts, with Switzerland’s lower house of parliament last year repeatedly voted against a change in the rules that would allow re-exports of Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine, in opposition to the country’s upper house.

Supporting Ukraine is important for Norwegian and European security, and “we must plan for the possibility that the illegal war of aggression may be prolonged,” Petersson said.

The policy exemption was driven by the Norwegian government, according to the state secretary, who declined to say which companies are expected to benefit from the new rule. The change will make it easier for Ukrainian authorities to buy what they need directly from Norway’s defense industry, he said. Export licenses will be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Norwegian defense company Kongsberg together with Raytheon developed the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, better known as NASAMS, of which several have been donated to Ukraine . Meanwhile, Finland expects to rely on production sites of Norwegian-Finnish ammunition producer Nammo to ramp up production of artillery shells, according to the country’s Defence Ministry.

Norway last year allocated 75 billion kroner ($7.1 billion) in support for Ukraine over five years as part of the so-called Nansen program. The country has set aside 15 billion kroner for 2024, of which half for military support.

“There is room for flexibility in the distribution of funds within each budget year based on Ukraine’s needs,” Petersson said. “It is therefore too early to say how the distribution between civilian and military support will end up in 2024, and what the total amount will be.”

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——挪威外交部表示，挪威今年打破了数十年来对武器出口的限制，其原因是乌克兰可能面临与俄罗斯的长期战争。

自1月1日起，挪威政府允许其国防工业直接向乌克兰出售武器，从而豁免了1959年禁止向战区出售武器弹药的禁令。但企业仍需申请出口许可证才能直接向乌克兰出售武器。

“考虑到战争可能会持续很长时间，挪威政府认为，除了接受捐赠之外，让乌克兰当局有机会购买他们最需要的武器弹药也很重要，”外交国务秘书埃温·瓦德·彼得松在回复问题的电子邮件中说。

乌克兰战争导致北约国家及其盟国对武器出口的态度发生转变，德国成为向冲突地区大量出口武器的国家，日本也在去年12月放宽了对国防装备的严格出口管制。如今，像挪威这样的国家正在为长期战争做准备。

一些西欧国家仍然持反对态度，例如瑞士下议院去年多次投票反对修改规则，该规则允许将瑞士制造的武器再出口到乌克兰，这与该国上议院的立场相悖。

彼得松表示，支持乌克兰对挪威和欧洲的安全至关重要，“我们必须做好应对非法侵略战争可能持续下去的准备”。

据国务秘书称，这项政策豁免是由挪威政府推动的，但他拒绝透露哪些公司预计将从新规中受益。他表示，这项变更将使乌克兰当局更容易直接从挪威国防工业采购所需物资。出口许可证将逐案审批。

挪威国防公司康斯伯格与雷神公司联合研发了国家先进地对空导弹系统（NASAMS），其中部分已捐赠给乌克兰。与此同时，芬兰国防部表示，芬兰计划依靠挪威-芬兰合资弹药生产商Nammo的生产基地来提高炮弹产量。

挪威去年拨款750亿克朗（约合71亿美元）用于未来五年援助乌克兰，这是所谓的“南森计划”的一部分。该国已预留150亿克朗用于2024年，其中一半用于军事援助。

彼得松表示：“每个预算年度的资金分配都有一定的灵活性，可以根据乌克兰的实际需求进行调整。因此，现在断言2024年民事和军事援助的最终分配比例以及总额还为时过早。”

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。