Norway’s security agency cited an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli targets in particular in order to raise the security level in the country.

Norway is introducing temporary border controls with other western European states after the national security agency raised its terror threat level. A police statement citing a “challenging threat picture” states that the checks will remain in place until October 22.

The move follows an Oct. 8 announcement by the security agency, PST, that it was raising Norway’s threat level from “moderate” to “high,” the second-highest level on a five-point scale. 

Norway is not a member of the European Union, but the country is part of the Schengen zone, allowing European travel without identity checks. It has land borders with Sweden and Finland, members of the EU and Schengen.

The border-free Schengen area allows more than 425 million EU citizens, as well as third-country nationals residing or visiting the EU, to move freely between member states for tourism, study, or business without restrictions.

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This free movement allows EU citizens to travel, work, and live in any EU country without the need for special permits. Most EU countries are part of the Schengen area, except Cyprus and Ireland. Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area for domestic air and sea travel in March 2024.

However, land border controls are still in place, with discussions on their abolition continuing this year.

In September, Germany reintroduced border controls for 6 months at all land crossings on its nine borders to curb immigration and tackle crime.

The country’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said that the aim was to protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime.

Norwegian police said that the new controls will not include checking all travelers, and there is no reason to expect delays at border crossings.

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