– It is always useful and instructive to visit the US. But it is even more important to have a close and sound dialogue with our closest allies at the most dramatic time for European security since the Second World War, and the meeting is both relevant and good, said committee chair Ine Eriksen Søreide (H).

In New York, the committee held meetings with various actors within the UN system, including the organization working with international emergency response (OCHA) and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO). The committee also met with the Ambassador of Ukraine to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya. There were also meetings with representatives from various Norwegian companies and organizations established in New York, including a visit to the DNB site located on the 83rd floor of Hudson Yards, Manhattan’s newest neighborhood.

In Washington DC, stays include meetings in Congress, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense. Furthermore, the committee held a meeting at the US National Security Council. Søreide Committee chairman and co-chairman Åsmund Aukrust opened the seminar organized by the Atlantic Council think tank on defense and deterrence in the north.

The final leg of the trip goes to Norfolk, Virginia, and the largest naval base in the world. One of the two highest commands within NATO’s military command structure, Allied Operations Command (ACT) and NATO operational command Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFCNF), are also located here. The Commander of the US JFCNF is also the Commander-in-Chief of the US Second Fleet. The committee also got to meet some of the Norwegian employees at the base.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense also visited the United States in February 2022. Then the trip had to be interrupted due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.