The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 39/00

Date: 24 February 2000

NO RECONCILIATION IN GAS POWER PLANT CONFLICT ( Aftenposten)

Despite a new invitation from the Government to cooperate, neither side yielded an inch during yesterday’s Storting debate on gas-fired power plants. Jens Stoltenberg, chairman of the Labour Party parliamentary group, accused the Government of being "exceptionally weak". He said, "Prime Minister Bondevik said very little about the fact that we have a government that is administrating a policy it actually disagrees with. The Government is not showing leadership. It is not governing. It only administrates." Mr. Stoltenberg feels that it is the Government’s decision as to whether this issue will lead to a government crisis.

FIGHTING FOR POWER AND GLORY ( Dagsavisen)

The sparks flew when Prime Minister Bondevik met his new rival Jens Stoltenberg in the Storting yesterday evening. The shower of sparks in the gas power plant conflict could provoke an explosion that blasts Mr. Bondevik’s staff out of their government offices. Kjell Magne Bondevik’s seat in the Prime Minister’s chair is no more secure since his altercation with the new Labour Party prime minister candidate. The tough debate intensified the conflict between the Government and the opposition in the gas-fired power plant controversy.

LABOUR IS DELIGHTED WITH JENS ( Dagbladet)

"Wonderful! Fantastic! Superb!" The Labour Party parliamentary group was delighted with its new chairman after Mr. Stoltenberg’s debut as leader of the opposition yesterday. It is still an open question whether there will be a government crisis over the gas-fired power plant issue. Prime Minister Bondevik is apparently undecided as to how to approach the Storting debate on 9 March.

LABOUR ACCEPTS CENTRIST PARTIES’ LATEST GAS POWER PROPOSAL ( Vårt Land)

Liberal Party and Christian Democratic Party Storting politicians heaved a sigh of relief when Labour’s gas policy spokesman Olav Akselsen said, "We have no problem in supporting most of this". Mr. Akselsen continued, "We must study these proposals a bit more, but our view is basically positive. But this does not change our views on allowing the establishment of gas-fired power plants now."

DEMANDS FOR NEW MEASURES TO COMBAT CRIME BY ASYLUM SEEKERS ( Aftenposten)

Crime among asylum seekers is increasing, according to police in Asker and Bærum. They are now demanding that the Ministry of Justice introduce immediate measures to try to halt these criminal activities. The police propose changing the Immigration Act, to make it easier to keep asylum seekers who have committed crimes locked up. They are also demanding that applications for asylum be processed more quickly, so that asylum seekers who have committed crimes can be sent out of the country sooner. The Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers supports these demands.

SCOFFS AT DnB’S ACQUITTAL ( Aftenposten)

Kåre Willoch, the former chairman of Den norske Bank’s supervisory board, cannot understand why the bank’s audit committee yesterday determined that the DnB board of directors had dealt with Mr. Røkke’s loan in a satisfactory way. "It is entirely understandable that the bank’s own bodies protect the bank itself. But this cannot be regarded as an objective assessment of the issue," says Mr. Willoch.

WORTH NOTING

• Never before had anyone at the Storting seen Jens Stoltenberg project so strong an image. He showed unusual self-confidence when he hurled abuse at Kjell Magne Bondevik. "Exceptionally weak" is how the newly appointed chairman of the Labour Party parliamentary group and prime minister candidate described the Government. ( Verdens Gang)
• The centrist parties are trying to use the Labour party’s own proposal as a new weapon in the increasingly critical conflict over gas-fired power plants. Now Labour is sceptical about voting to approve the Government proposal that the party itself had originally submitted, because this might save the Bondevik Government. ( Dagsavisen)
• The Government will implement measures tomorrow to limit the number of refugees streaming in from northern Iraq. Last year 4,073 Iraqis applied for asylum in Norway. ( Dagsavisen)
• As many as 5,000 of the Kosovar Albanians who were transported to Norway via an air lift last year will apply for asylum this summer. Last autumn most of them wanted to go home, but now most of them want to stay in Norway. ( Verdens Gang)
• Food products are an average of 40 to 50 per cent cheaper in Sweden than in Norway, according to a comprehensive investigation undertaken by the National Institute for Consumer Research. The investigation examined 52 different food products in 21 Swedish and 17 Norwegian stores. ( Aftenposten)
• Teachers’ appetites have been whetted since a Storting majority indicated its approval of "competitive" wages for teachers. Now the Norwegian Union of Teachers is demanding a meeting with the Government before the wage settlement negotiations in order to negotiate a special pay raise for teachers. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• MeritaNordbanken’s board chairman Jacob Palmstierna is crystal-clear: he is extending his bid for Kreditkassen until the state has decided whether or not the bank is to be sold. ( Aftenposten)
• The German company Blohm + Voss has not given up the ship. Corporate management wants to extend its tender to build frigates until 30 June so that its defence system can be assessed. The two rivals, Bazan and Blohm + Voss, have both submitted tenders to build five frigates for the Norwegian armed forces with an economic framework of NOK 12 billion. ( Aftenposten)

TODAY'S COMMENT from Aftenposten

In his New Year’s address, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik took up the issue of the fate of the children born to German soldiers and Norwegian women during World War II, but he does not want to comment on the question of compensation, in connection with the rejection by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of their demand for such compensation. If one believes that it is reasonable to indulge in legal hair-splitting in an issue of this nature, then one might claim, as the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has done, that the case is time-barred. But the claim that the injustices perpetrated against these people are not adequately documented is ridiculous in the light of Mr. Bondevik’s statement that "we cannot let a new century begin without acknowledging the injustices committed against many of these children after the war". The evidence of these injustices is more than adequate. The Government is, to borrow one of former Prime Minister Kåre Willoch’s phrases, quite simply "morally obliged to provide compensation to these people so the issue can be resolved outside the courtroom". This is just a question of the Norwegian state’s obligation to "act with proper generosity", in the words of Mr. Willoch.