(tense music)
^- I'm grateful for Norway's leadership
^in the Nordic-Baltic region,
^and particularly appreciative of your measured efforts
^to maintain stability in the High North,
and in the Arctic, where you are the sentinel
for NATO to the north.
^- We share some borders with Russia in an area
^that is vital to Russian security interests.
^We now see increasingly aggressive Russian behavior
in our neighborhood.
Last year they simulated several air attacks
on northern Norway.
We follow the development
of Russian military capabilities closely.
Norway is NATO in the north, and Norway takes our
responsibility in the High North very seriously.