An official website of the United States Government 
Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov

.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Mattis Praises Norway as Important U.S., NATO Ally

You have accessed part of a historical collection on defense.gov. Some of the information contained within may be outdated and links may not function. Please contact the DOD Webmaster with any questions.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis yesterday met with Norwegian Minister of Defense Ine Eriksen Søreide at the Pentagon, where he praised the longstanding defense relationship between the United States and Norway, according to chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stands with Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide during an honor cordon at the Pentagon, May 17, 2017. DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stands with Norway’s Minister of Defense Ine Eriksen Søreide during an honor cordon at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2017. DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stands with Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide during an honor cordon at the Pentagon, May 17, 2017. DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith
Honor Cordon
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stands with Norway’s Minister of Defense Ine Eriksen Søreide during an honor cordon at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2017. DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith
Photo By: Sgt. Amber I. Smith
VIRIN: 170517-D-SV709-075

Extensive Military-to-Military Cooperation

Mattis and Søreide reaffirmed the extensive military-to-military cooperation between the U.S. and Norway as NATO allies that have resulted in effective combined operations on the battlefield, White said.

White said the secretary also thanked the minister for the opportunity for a limited U.S. Marine Corps rotational force to conduct cold-weather training in Norway to strengthen readiness and interoperability.

“Norway, from our perspective on this side of the Atlantic, is an essential NATO ally with invaluable expertise in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and we want to thank you for sharing that expertise with us, and for supporting the U.S. Marine Corps cold weather training taking place today in Norway,” Mattis told Søreide.

White said the secretary thanked the minister for Norway's commitment to international security, including its significant contributions to NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, the defeat-ISIS campaign and its leadership on security in the Nordic-Baltic region and the North Atlantic.

“You are absolutely right in the fact that we are strengthening our relationships,” Søreide told Mattis. “We are entering into cooperation that will only deepen in the years to come, and we have a longstanding history of decades of cooperating in crucial areas, where I think that we can say that we mutually contribute to things that we could not do alone.”

The secretary encouraged the minister to continue efforts to meet the two percent of GDP spending pledge for all NATO members, White said.

Related Stories