Silenced day before Bondevik’s US visit (Dagbladet)

The day before Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was due in Washington, Norway’s ambassador to the USA, Knut Vollebæk, was instructed to refuse Lasse Qvigstad, counsellor for legal and justice affairs at the embassy, permission to publish an article critical of the USA’s use of American military tribunals in the battle against international terrorism. "Naturally, I complied with the Ambassador’s request not to publish the article. But now I am no longer employed at the embassy I see no problem in it being published," says Mr Qvigstad.

Foreign Ministry under fire over censorship of embassy employee (Aftenposten)

The Socialist Left Party and media organizations are furious over the Foreign Ministry’s censorship of Lasse Qvigstad, formerly counsellor for legal and justice affairs at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington. But the Foreign Ministry’s action is backed by former Conservative prime minister, Kåre Willoch, the Conservative Party and the Progress Party. The Labour Party has made no comment on the issue. The Storting’s Ombudsman for Public Administration, Arne Fliflet, is to review the Foreign Ministry’s handling of the affair in which Mr Qvigstad was refused permission to publish an article critical of the USA. Mr Fliflet is looking forward to the case. He has dealt with a number of other cases involving the freedom of expression of civil servants and public employees. However, he declined to make any general comments on the issue.

Women take over at the ministries (Dagsavisen)

50 per cent of the 114 people appointed to senior civil service positions in 2001 were women. "It is gratifying to see that the efforts to promote equal opportunities which have been going on for many years are now bearing fruit," said Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman, who would like to see even more women in senior positions. The most important reason that women have made such a good showing is the extremely large number of appointments at Assistant Director General level. 60 per cent of the 63 Assistant Directors General who were appointed last year were women.

Norwegian salmon dumping exposed (Aftenposten)

The European Commission is to investigate allegations of fraud involving Norwegian salmon after Danish customs officials raised the alarm. The Danish customs officers carried out searches of Norwegian goods vehicles and found two sets of invoices – one showing the official minimum price, and one showing the real price to the customer. The alleged infringements of the EU’s import regulations represent a NOK 320 million fraud, say the Danes. This affair could have serious consequences in an important market for Norwegian salmon sales. Last year Norway exported 180,000 tonnes of salmon to the EU, worth a total of NOK 5 billion.

Petroleum Fund suffers major losses (Aftenposten)

The stock market has not been a success for the Norwegian Petroleum Fund. After four years of positive returns, the year-end results for 2001 will probably show an aggregate loss of around 2 per cent. Translated into Norwegian kroner, the Fund’s investments made a loss of around NOK 10 billion last year. With well over NOK 200 billion invested in shares, Norway’s piggy-bank is extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in the world’s stock markets. Despite the loss incurred in 2001, the value of the Fund is rising sharply because the Finance Ministry keeps pumping in new money at the same rate as Norway’s ‘black gold’ is pumped up from the North Sea. At the end of the third quarter last year, the Petroleum Fund stood at NOK 547 billion.

Politicians call for ethical investment (Vårt Land)

Seven out of ten politicians want Norwegian investments abroad to be subject to the same environmental standards as domestic investments – with the exception of the Petroleum Fund. Here the politicians are content if the companies invested in do not breach ‘Norway’s obligations under international law’. The survey is based on interviews with 1,700 senior executives in all positions, ranging from the private sector to the Church of Norway.

Worth Noting

• Three days after the central government took over the country’s hospitals, 30,000 nurses do not have an agreement on wages and working conditions with their new employer. The Norwegian Nurses’ Association is maintaining an on-going evaluation of whether it will call its members out on strike. (Dagsavisen)
• The Norwegian police are searching for 28 young people under the age of 20. Many of them have absconded from refugee reception centres or other institutions. A total of 58 youths between the ages of 15 and 20 were reported missing in the period 1998-2001, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Crime Investigation. (Verdens Gang)
• An organic wind of change is blowing through the Norwegian agricultural landscape. 260 farmers switched to organic production methods last year, bringing the number of organic farms in Norway up to 2,100. The area of land under organic cultivation increased at the same time by 38 per cent. (Dagsavisen)
• The number of road deaths is falling. The number of accidents and injuries, on the other hand, is rising. 11,595 people were injured on the roads last year. A growing number of drivers disregard the speed limit. (Dagsavisen)
• Last year insurance companies paid out NOK 7.7 billion in compensation after collisions and damage to cars and motorbikes. Norwegians notified their insurance companies of a massive 565,551 incidents, covering all kinds of damage to vehicles and personal injuries. (Dagsavisen)
• Of the almost 1,000 jobs to be cut by Norsk Hydro’s light metals division, 300-400 are located in Norway. Employee representatives at Norsk Hydro fear that even more people will lose their jobs when the company acquires the giant German aluminium producer, Vaw. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The hotel and restaurant trade is to introduce a special euro-fee to secure itself against currency losses. This comes at the same time as the euro will make it easier for foreigners to compare Norwegian prices with those in other countries. (Nationen)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen’s desire for calm in relation to EU membership is understandable. In the space of some thirty years the issue has twice torn apart a governing coalition in which the Conservative leader’s party has played a key role, and Norway’s attempts to join the EU have ended in failure. But we should not hold so fast to the principle of ‘calm’ that Norwegian politicians fail to point out the consequences of what is happening in Europe – particularly now when the EU is in the midst of an exceptionally dynamic process. Labour’s Jens Stoltenberg is therefore quite right to point out how strange it was that Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik made absolutely no mention of the EU or the euro when he addressed the Norwegian people on the same day as the euro was launched. As so many times before Mr Bondevik demonstrated once again that Europe and the EU are terms which barely register on his political radar screen. According to Reiulf Steen, former leader of the European Movement in Norway, our relations with the rest of Europe, which to all intents and purposes means the EU, represent the most important political challenge Norway faces today. It is the right way of looking at things. The Labour Party and the Conservatives have been the foremost proponents of EU membership in Norway. They should welcome a possible shift on the part of the Christian Democrats, after that party’s recent brushes with reality. The Conservatives must not make short-term tactics the enemy of its long-term goal, but should be able to keep two thoughts in their heads at the same time – government without a new application for EU membership as part of its programme, and continuing political efforts to increase the Norwegian people’s understanding of the importance of the EU. It is a matter of sustaining long-term credibility and exercising political leadership.