Sensitive military equipment poorly managed (Aftenposten)

Following a review of last year’s financial accounts, the Armed Forces’ management of its materiel has come under heavy fire. Stock taking and internal controls are poor, and in many places non-existent. Several units have equipment that is not operational. Officers and men who have long since left the service are registered as still having equipment checked out to them. The Office of the Auditor General is now wondering whether senior military commanders are taking their responsibility seriously. The Headquarters Defence Command Norway (FO) has ordered the Armed Forces’ logistics organization to investigate the way military equipment is looked after.

Armed Forces slammed for disorderly financial conduct (Dagbladet)

The Norwegian Armed Forces are characterized by corner-cutting, incompetence and money-wasting on a grand scale, according to a recent report published by the Socialist Left Party. In the report the party documents that over the past ten years the Armed Forces have squandered billions of kroner on substandard projects, bad investments and cost overruns. But on Wednesday Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold received a cash boost when the Storting voted to allocate NOK 118 billion for defence spending over the next four years. The money is intended to strengthen the Armed Forces operational capability.

Call for tighter rein on immigration chief (Verdens Gang)

Socialist Left Party MP, Heikki Holmås, has said he thinks that Trygve G. Nordby, the head of the Immigration Directorate, and the new Immigration Appeals Boards should be shorn of much of their powers because he fears insufficient democratic control over their activities. "The Government must be accountable for how Norway’s immigration and asylum policies are implemented," said Mr Holmås. On Friday the Storting rejected a proposal by the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party to force the immigration authorities to publish details of individual cases – but with the identities of those involved remaining confidential – to demonstrate how they put the regulations into practice.

Minister slams door on third hijacker (Dagbladet)

The third hijacker involved in the drama at Gardermoen airport nine years ago will not be granted a residence permit in Norway. Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg has said she will do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. "This hijacker cannot expect to be granted a residence permit. We will ensure that the mistakes made by the Immigration Directorate the last time do not happen again," she said.

Spotlight spells success for Progress Party (Dagsavisen)

This spring Carl I. Hagen has bathed in the political spotlight. That attention is probably one of the reasons why the Progress Party remains the country’s largest party. According to AC Nielsen’s political barometer for June, Hagen and his team have the support of 24.8 per cent of the electorate. "Hagen is attracting voters from all quarters. He still arouses people’s antipathy, but it is not as strong as before. He takes everything from urban issues to regional policy issues. And his opinions are ‘correct’ in that he is on the side of the majority on each issue," said AC Nielsen’s chief analyst, Per Morten Jørgensen. According to the poll, the Labour Party stands at 20.2 per cent, the Conservative Party at 19.5 per cent, while the Christian Democrats climb to 12.1 per cent. There are only small changes for the other parties.

Bondevik puts his foot down (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has made it clear that there is a limit to what the parliamentary majority can force his minority government to accept. "Obviously there is a limit to what the Government can accept without it having any consequences. We cannot live with many decisions of the kind represented by the price cap on pre-school day care," said Mr Bondevik. Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen, on the other hand, believes his chances of being invited into the governing coalition have improved. He feels that at the very least there will be discussions with the Progress Party with a view to the party joining a centre-right majority government. "The chances of this happening have increased. We are working actively to prepare ourselves," said Mr Hagen.

Strong krone could give Foss less budget cash (Aftenposten)

It is not only the competitiveness of the country’s industrial companies which has been affected by the continued strengthening of the Norwegian krone. Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss could also see his own competitiveness in the political arena knocked sideways in the same brutal manner. The exceedingly strong krone and weak international stock markets could give Mr Foss NOK 4 billion less to play with next year. The value of the Government Petroleum Fund at the start of next year could be NOK 100 million less than previously expected. This could prove sticky for Mr Foss, who has committed himself to spending only four per cent of the Fund.

Russian warship heading for Svalbard (Aftenposten/Saturday)

A Russian warship was yesterday evening steaming north towards Svalbard, apparently to protect Russian fishing vessels in the area. "We have been in contact with the Russian Foreign Ministry, who were not aware of the move," said acting spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Victor Rønneberg. "The reply we received from the Foreign Ministry in Moscow was to the effect that if there were outstanding differences between the two countries, they would not be solved by sending warships into the area," said Mr Rønneberg.

Worth Noting

• According to the Progress Party, Trygve G. Nordby, head of the Immigration Directorate (UDI), has written his second letter of resignation in less than a week after it became known that he had granted a residence permit to the sister of Labour MP Rubina Rama. (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
• Ten foreign demonstrators were arrested by police at the weekend on suspicion that they might commit criminal acts during the World Bank conference being held in Oslo this week. (Dagsavisen)
• Several of Oslo’s city-centre shops will remain shut on Saturday and Monday as a precaution during the World Bank conference. Some shop-owners have barricaded their windows to prevent vandalism and theft in the event of street-fighting. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• Around 2,000 asylum seekers, whose application for asylum has been finally rejected, will nevertheless be allowed to stay in the country indefinitely. According to police, only 670 of the 2,615 such asylum seekers will actually be expelled in the next few months. (Verdens Gang)
• Parents react angrily and with threats of legal action when police officers collect their children, stoned on drugs, from known narcotics haunts. So far 177 children have been removed from Oslo’s central station. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
• Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg has said she would allow other forms of industrial action in addition to strikes in connection with negotiations on pay and conditions. But the Government and the Storting will not do anything before the unions, including the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), and employers’ organizations request a change in the regulations. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• Public service employees who lose their jobs as a result of organizational changes are entitled to continued payments from the state amounting to 66 per cent of their original salary until they are found new employment. Depending on the age of the individual when they are made redundant, ex-public service employees could be paid this ‘waiting salary’ for up to 12 years. In June 3,005 people were registered as receiving ‘waiting salary’. The scheme costs the Government millions of kroner, which is why the Directorate of Labour is proposing to pay a finders’ fee of NOK 60,000 to recruitment agencies for every ‘waiting salary’ recipient for whom they find permanent employment. (Vårt Land)
• This year’s round of pay negotiations was one of the best for a decade. But according to a recent opinion poll, one in four people do not think they got a big enough increase. Few people are worried about the fact that both unemployment and interest rates could rise in step with their pay checks. (Aftenposten)
• Companies know too little about which agencies they can apply to for business development grants. Despite attempts to streamline the system there are still hundreds of different schemes and over 70 different agencies to which companies can apply for financial assistance. (Nationen)
• Over the past two years Stein Erik Hagen’s supermarkets have lost market shares corresponding to net sales of NOK 1,553 million. Rival supermarket chain, Rema 1000, is the clear winner, having grabbed NOK 2 billion in net sales from its competitors. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Conservatives are furious, but Environment Minister Børge Brende, himself a Conservative, does not care. He plans to create 37 national salmon rivers and 32 national salmon fjords. Many commercial salmon farmers are in despair, while sports fishermen and environmentalists have every reason to celebrate. (Dagbladet/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

203 Norwegian footballers have gone on strike. It is an extremely small and exclusive group of practitioners. The strike has no impact on third parties, does not endanger life and limb, and is mainly symbolic in nature. For this reason it is also completely unnecessary. However, it does serve to turn the spotlight on the way sport has been transformed from leisure pursuit to big business. And, from a historic point of view, it is interesting because it is the first strike ever to have been staged in the sport – 100 years after the Norwegian Football Association was established. No one can become a footballer by going to college. It is not a protected professional title. The strike means that clubs lose revenues, weakening their financial position still further. So the question is this: Does the basis for professional football exist in Norway? Perhaps the answer is no.

Sport

Odd Grenland 3-1 Lillestrøm (played on Saturday)

This weekend’s remaining matches were cancelled due to the players’ strike, which started on Sunday.