KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says Malaysia received support from European Union leaders after Norway scrapped the naval strike missile (NSM) missile deal recently.
The Prime Minister said he had immediately written to his European counterparts about Norway’s treatment of Malaysia.
Following this, he said French President Emmanuel Macron had sent him a personal note stating that this didn’t represent the EU's position.
Similarly, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and leaders from Germany extended the same support to Malaysia on the matter.
“When you talk about Malaysia and the EU, this Norwegian stance against our government, of course, will not necessarily affect our relations with the EU,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the 39th Asia-Pacific Roundtable here on Thursday (July 2).
He also was puzzled by the “security considerations” cited by Norway in abruptly cancelling the naval strike missile deal with Malaysia after payments were nearly settled in full.
“Is it a fair position? No reasons given. But if I spoke to the Prime Minister (Norway), who cited security considerations.
“What do you think? You think we are selling these missiles to Al-Qaeda?” he asked.
Anwar mentioned that the United States had clarified that it did not influence or pressure Norway to halt the deal with Malaysia.
In a written parliamentary reply dated July 1, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Malaysia is seeking to recover the money paid for the scrapped Norway missile deal through provisions in the contract signed.
The contract signed with Norwegian defence firm Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS had clauses providing recourse for failure of implementation or breach of obligations.
The government has issued a notice of demand to the manufacturer seeking compensation totalling about RM1bil for the cancellation of the NSM sale.
Malaysia had paid 95% of the contract’s €124mil (RM571.9mil) value since the deal was signed in 2018 but Norway halted shipments of the anti-ship missiles in May 2026, citing national security.
