Carney welcomes Norwegian Prime Minister to Ottawa

Carney welcomes Norwegian Prime Minister to Ottawa ANJA KARADEGLIJA OTTAWA THE CANADIAN PRESS PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store in Ottawa on Sunday. PATRICK DOYLE/THE CANADIAN PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Prime Minister Mark Carney says his focus on building international relationships, including with Norway, is part of the answer to renewed threats from Russia. During a news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Ottawa, both leaders were asked about warnings from the Polish prime minister that Russia may be planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries that support Ukraine. Store said those warnings should be taken seriously and that Norway’s intelligence has concluded there are “real threats coming from hybrid activity, ranging all the way to potential sabotage.’ Carney didn’t comment on the credibility of the threats, but said he agreed with Store’s statements. “One of the advantages of this relationship and deepening across a broad range of relationships is, yes, greater intelligence sharing, greater perspective, greater capacities that are built together,” he said. He said accomplishing that requires submarine and space capabilities, as well as the “right partners” among Arctic nations working together. “The phrase that always sticks with me... is ‘High North, low tension,’” he said. Canada calls for NATO strategy to secure Arctic as northern flank of military alliance In July, Carney chose to buy a dozen submarines from a European shipbuilder instead of a Korean firm, after a months-long, hotly contested bidding process. The chosen partnership involves a German company but partners with Norway, with the three nations collaborating to produce and maintain the submarines. Before meeting with Store in Ottawa on Sunday, Carney travelled to Saint-Pierre and Miquelon earlier in the day to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. Carney said the “time spent whether it’s in the high north in Norway, a meeting with the French president who’s directly implicated in a number of these decisions, our meeting today and beyond, it’s all connected,” Carney said. In a statement released later Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office said Canada and Norway signed a number of agreements,…