Norway Ukraine military aid 2027 budget dispute, Digi Mart USA News: Norway’s billion-kroner support for Ukraine will decline next year, according to Venstre leader Guri Melby. Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Ap) disagrees, saying the support will increase.
Stoltenberg was on his first visit to Kyiv since leaving NATO in 2024 on Tuesday. “We must enable Ukraine to defend itself, because that is the only way we can achieve peace,” he told VG when he arrived in the Ukrainian capital that morning.
The government has proposed supporting Ukraine in the state budget with the same amount as this year, 85 billion kroner. Melby said she asked Defense Minister Tore O.
Sandvik what would be needed to maintain support next year, adjusted for inflation. According to the government’s best estimate, support must rise by five billion kroner, to 90 billion.
With an unchanged amount, support would therefore decline, she told VG.
Melby noted that the Storting unanimously backed the large sum in support of Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. “Needs are large and growing,” she said, citing the escalation of the war and financial gaps in civil society, schools and the health sector.
She said the question of what support should be in 2027 remains unanswered, and that the proposed amount is too small.
Before the summer, the Venstre, MDG and Høyre parties tried to increase support by backing a billion-kroner emergency loan for Ukraine, but there was no majority for it. Labour (Ap), the Progress Party (Frp) and the Centre Party (Sp) voted no.
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met party leaders in the Storting on October 21, he thanked Norway for its support, but future amounts were not discussed. Melby said he described efforts to build bomb-proof classrooms underground and the need for support to repair and maintain critical infrastructure such as power.
He did not ask for more money.
Stoltenberg disputed Melby’s calculation, saying her reasoning does not make sense. “The point is that the Storting took a significant and large step when support increased in 2025.
We are happy to discuss technical calculations for inflation and other factors that have changed in value,” he told VG while leaving Ukraine overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.
He argued that the krone has strengthened considerably since 2025. Measured in euros, he said, a stronger krone alone has increased the value of Norway’s support by nearly one billion euros.
According to Stoltenberg, 85 billion kroner equaled just over 7.4 billion euros in spring 2025, and today it equals just over 8.3 billion euros.
Stoltenberg said he was pleased Norway had tripled its support, and that 85 billion kroner is a very large sum that the Storting has endorsed. Melby responded that the finance minister contradicts his colleague, the defense minister.
