Migration figures for 2025, Oslo Police workload up due to security situation, and Norway in Arctic security talks. Here’s a roundup of the news this Friday.
55,000 people migrated to Norway in 2025
A total of 55,243 people migrated to Norway last year, new figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show.
The number is lower than it was in 2019 and easily the lowest it has been in the years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The largest nationality among new immigrants to Norway remains Ukrainians, however.
The net migration figure for 2025 was 24,265, evidencing a significant amount of migrations out of the country last year.
Oslo Police say they are feeling strain of global security situation
Oslo Police activities related to security, demonstrations, protests and state visits increased by 320 percent between 2019 and 2024, media Politiforum reports.
“The increasingly demanding security situation, especially recently, is a challenge for the entire Oslo Police District,” Grete Lien Metlid, head of the operative unit FOT, told the media.
Metlid said Norway is dealing with the threat of cyber attacks, sabotage and proxy attacks.
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Canadian, German and Norwegian leaders hold Arctic security talks
Canadian, German and Norwegian leaders will meet in the Norwegian Arctic on Friday to discuss the region’s fragile security situation, against the backdrop of a large NATO exercise.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who are making separate visits to the Scandinavian country, will meet their host Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Bardufoss, a military town located above the Arctic Circle where NATO’s Cold Response exercise is taking place.
The High North has long been shielded by the concept of “Arctic exceptionalism” — the notion that the region had its own set of unwritten rules of cooperation which were immune to geopolitical rivalries.
But regional dynamics between Russia and the West have changed since the start of the war in Ukraine and due to US President Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
“In the face of new threats, we are deepening defence collaboration with our Arctic partners to create a stronger, more prosperous, and more secure world for Canada and for all,” Carney said in a statement ahead of the visit.