Three hundred U.S. Marines arrived in Norway on Monday for a six-month deployment, with another batch of troops to replace them in July.
It’s the first time since World War II that Norway has allowed foreign troops to be stationed in the country. Several thousand troops were recently sent to Poland to aid Eastern European allies who worry about an increasingly bold Russia. The Marines’ deployment was announced in October.
The Marines are from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and will be hosted by the Norwegian Home Guard at the Vaernes military base, approximately 900 miles from the Russian border.
“For the first four weeks they will have basic winter training, learn how to cope with skis and to survive in the Arctic environment,” said Rune Haarstad, a Home Guard spokesman. “It has nothing to do with Russia or the current situation.”
The Marines will participate in the Joint Viking exercises in March alongside British troops.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not make a public statement in response to the Marines’ arrival in Norway. In October, a Russian official told Reuters the move did not make sense due to “the absence of threat from Russia to Norway.”
A Norwegian Ministry of Defense official also said the Marines’ arrival is not related to Russian affairs.
