Moscow threatens to strike NATO missiles in Norway

Moscow: missiles in Norway are a legitimate target

Norway has become the new flashpoint between NATO and Russia. The deployment of American medium- and intermediate-range missile launchers, based on MK41 cells, on Norwegian territory has triggered a forceful response from Moscow. Maria Sahava, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, denounced that the Alliance's intention to gain the capability to strike deep into Russian territory is being "ostentatiously" displayed. The MK41 systems, she added, can launch universal missiles against both land and sea targets.

With this step, Norway becomes a spearhead. But the decision is not without questions. If nuclear escalation is the endgame, geography plays a central role. An attack on Oslo, for example, would wipe out 50% of Norway's population in a single strike. The same would happen to Stockholm, Copenhagen or Helsinki. Missile defence, meanwhile, seems to have no answer: in the Gulf, up to 100 Patriot interceptors have been documented for every Iranian missile, a ratio that makes budgets unviable.

Meanwhile, the Western chain of command breeds distrust. The famous warning by Captain Menéndez in 1977 —"above discipline stands honour"— echoes faintly today. Some analyses argue that the lack of democratic control over decisions like this is the real danger. Moscow's response, which already considers the launchers a legitimate target, leaves the door open to a conflict with unpredictable consequences.

The unsettling fact: Europe's most densely populated countries are not those on the front line, but those that could be sacrificed with barely any say in the decision.