If Trump wants to take power over Greenland, he might as well reason the same way about Svalbard, believes Tore Wig, professor of political science at the University of Oslo.
It's a security risk for Norway that we haven't seen the likes of since World War II, he says to Norwegian Dagbladet.
Trump's remarks about possible military force to acquire Danish Greenland raise doubts about the US's commitments to its allies in Europe, Wig believes. Norway is a small country that has relied on NATO for its security since 1945, he notes.
Norwegian ex-politician and Europe expert Paal Frisvold sees a risk that Russia will get involved.
What will be Putin's reaction if Greenland is incorporated into the US? Why shouldn't Putin, as a countermove, start looking at Svalbard? Then Svalbard becomes a strategic opportunity for Russia, he says to news agency NTB.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre seems to be taking the matter calmly.
I haven't heard anything about it, no, he responds to NTB's question about whether he's afraid that Trump will also set his sights on Svalbard.
If Trump starts flirting with the idea of the Arctic archipelago, it would trigger a larger conflict, believes Andreas Østhagen, senior researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute.
Svalbard is Norwegian. If anyone tries to annex or take over Svalbard, it will be met with strong international resistance, he says to Dagbladet.
Svalbard is located in the Arctic Ocean, approximately halfway between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole.
Most of the archipelago's population, around 2,500 people from about 50 countries, live in Longyearbyen on the main island of Spitsbergen.
According to the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, the archipelago belongs to Norway. Other nations that have signed the agreement have access to the islands and can conduct business there. Norwegian legislation applies, and the administration is under the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
Svalbard is demilitarized and cannot be used for war purposes. Due to the Russian military installations on the Kola Peninsula, the Arctic Ocean areas around Svalbard are considered to have great military strategic importance. The possibilities of extracting oil in the Barents Sea also contribute to a great international interest in the area.
Sources: Statistics Norway (SSB), Landguiden/UI, Store norske leksikon
