Carney touts Arctic alliance with Norway during PM's visit to Ottawa, amid Russia threat

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 Støre in Ottawa on Sunday, both leaders were asked about warnings from the Polish prime minister that Russia may be planning attacks on European countries that support Ukraine.

Støre 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 Støre'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.

Carney said that includes having the "right partners" among Arctic nations working together. "The phrase that always sticks with me ... is 'High North, low tension,'" he said.

The way to accomplish that, he said, includes submarine and space capacity.

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.

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."

Before his meeting with Støre in Ottawa, Carney travelled to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day.

Støre's visit comes as Carney looks for closer ties with Europe, including potential "associate membership" in the European Union.

Norway is not a member of the EU, but for three decades the country has had a deal with the political and economic bloc that gives both sides free access to each other's markets for goods and services — and gives Norway access to most EU programs.

Carney is courting deeper defence ties with Norway, as well as investment from its massive petroleum-based sovereign wealth fund.

Carney was in Norway in March — the first sitting Canadian prime minister since 1980 to visit the Nordic country.