Be prepared, not paranoid about Russia, Norwegian PM says

Be prepared, not paranoid about Russia, Norwegian PM says STEVEN CHASE SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER PUBLISHED 26 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store speaks at a fireside chat at the University of Ottawa on Monday. KEITO NEWMAN/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. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store says Russians for years have been building capacity to attack underwater infrastructure in the West, such as communications cables and pipelines. The Norwegian leader, whose country shares a border with Moscow, made the comments on Monday after speaking at the University of Ottawa. While he said the West must be prepared against threats, he warned against escalating concern to paranoia. “We know for many, many years that Russia has been focused on underwater infrastructure. They have capacity to operate, monitor, and you know, if need be, interrupt,” Mr. Store said, speaking to media. “This is nothing new to Norway,” he said. “It’s just illustrating that this is something not only we, but also others, need to be aware of. I would not dramatize it, but I would say, you know, we need to be sober in our analysis.” Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with Mr. Store before a meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday. PATRICK DOYLE/REUTERS Mr. Store, who was welcomed to Canada by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday, said his country is well-acquainted with Russia. He said he is fond of an expression from Finland: “We are not afraid, but we are prepared.” Reuters reported this month that NATO allies in the spring caught Russian subs training to unleash a secret weapon designed to disable critical undersea cables without leaving any fingerprints. The clandestine Russian operation was carried out by Moscow’s GUGI undersea warfare directorate, which used deep-sea submersibles to simulate the deployment of the sophisticated and destructive technology. A joint operation involving Britain, Norway and the United States tracked and confronted the Russian vessels at sea, Reuters reported. The vessels were prevented from completing their exercise and eventually left the area. Canada calls for NATO strategy to secure Arctic as northern flank of military alliance Some Western intelligence officials fear the Kremlin is ramping up sabotage operations in…