Norway's Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik and Germany's Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius have signed a bilateral agreement named the Hansa Arrangement. The agreement covers five main areas, including joint materiel procurement and operational cooperation in the North Atlantic.
The agreement was signed on 14 February during the security conference in Munich. According to the Norwegian government, the framework is intended to guide bilateral cooperation and strengthen security in Europe.
– A strong European cooperation is important to meet the burden-sharing requirements within NATO, where Europe should take a greater share of the responsibility for its own security. Germany is one of Norway's most important allies in Europe and our key partner in the EU, says Tore O. Sandvik in a press release.
The cooperation focuses on space-based surveillance, maritime security, land combat, rapid reinforcement, and the defence industry. A central part is the materiel cooperation concerning submarines and tanks.
Norway recently decided to expand its order with an additional two submarines, which means that the countries will operate six identical submarines each when deliveries are completed. The maintenance for these will be located at new facilities at Haakonsvern in Bergen (western Norway). The parties are also collaborating on the development of the next-generation anti-ship missile, 3SM.
In the land domain, Norway has ordered 54 tanks of the Leopard 2A8 type. As part of the industrial cooperation, the company Ritek in Trøndelag (central Norway) will assemble 37 of these tanks. Last year, Norway imported German defence materiel worth nearly 1.4 billion euros.
German forces regularly participate in training in Norway, including in the upcoming exercise Cold Response 26. The countries also cooperate in Lithuania within the framework of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP).