The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo
Press Division – Editor: Benedicte Tresselt Koren

Norway Daily No. 195/02

Date: 14 October 2002

Peace prize against war plans (Dagbladet/Saturday)

By awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Jimmy Carter, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has not only given US President George W. Bush a kick in the shins for his forthcoming war against Iraq. The Committee has also attacked the fundamental view of foreign policy which President Bush and his closest advisers represent. The decision to choose the seemingly safe, steady and slightly staid Jimmy Carter, today carries a sharp political criticism of the USA’s new foreign policy arrogance, which sweeps aside the UN, other international institutions, international law and treaties if they do not serve the USA’s foreign policy interests. Coincidentally, the timing of this tribute to Mr Carter’s tireless efforts over many years to uphold the exact opposite foreign policy ideals was perfect. The announcement of the Peace Prize came just after the House of Representatives and the Senate had given Mr Bush a free hand to attack Iraq.

Berge’s USA criticism raises eyebrows (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Gunnar Berge, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, criticized the US president yesterday, and has himself come under fire from Committee members for his comments, which raised a lot of eyebrows in the international community. The Committee gave three reasons for its decision to award the Peace Prize to Jimmy Carter – his efforts for peace, the USA’s war cry, and a bad conscience. "Jimmy Carter should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 together with the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat, but he was not nominated," said Mr Berge yesterday when he announced the name of this year’s prize winner. In response to a question from one of the journalists covering the announcement, who asked if the award should be seen as a "kick in the shins" for the USA, Mr Berge answered in the affirmative. Mr Berge’s "kick" in the direction of the USA yesterday provoked a strong response from some members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and in the international community. Committee members Hanna Kvanmo and Inger Marie Ytterhorn said afterwards that Mr Berge was not speaking on behalf of the Committee when he criticized President George W. Bush after the Peace Prize announcement. Mr Berge himself admitted that his comments had not been cleared with the Committee beforehand.

Norwegian emergency oil reserves could come under EU control (Aftenposten)

The European Commission wants to increase the EU’s emergency reserves of oil and gas, and intends to use these stocks to influence oil prices. The EEA Agreement means that Norway could also be included in such a scheme, which could lead to Norwegian emergency oil reserves in future being placed under EU control. The issue is a hot energy policy potato for Norway and the EU. It has already been discussed at a high level politically and developments are being closely monitored. A number of EU countries have also protested strongly against the European Commission’s proposal, which involves so-called strategic oil reserves being used in an emergency situation by the Commission and the EU as a tool to promote fair competition within the EU’s single market. The oil and gas reserves would under such circumstances be defined as part of the EEA Agreement, to which Norway is also a party. Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs has confirmed that the proposal for new emergency directives is one of the issues on his agenda when he meets ministers from EU member states.

Several thousand asylum seekers unaccounted for (Aftenposten)

A record number of asylum seekers have disappeared from Norway’s refugee reception centres. So far this year 3,679 people have gone missing, an increase of almost 85 per cent compared with the same period last year. "The increase must be seen in relation to the fact that the total number of asylum seekers coming to this country has risen this year," said Elisabeth Sem Christensen of the Immigration Directorate (UDI). The authorities have no idea where the refugees are. "They move mainly to the largest towns and cities, where it is easier to melt into the background," said Inspector Manus Andreassen, who believes many of the refugees choose to move on to other countries. Every single truck boarding the car ferry to the UK at Kristiansand is now being checked for asylum seekers on the run.

Norway and EU join forces in the Balkans (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Kim Traavik, State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, said yesterday that the EU’s joint security and foreign policies are an open process in which Norway can play a major role. Norway’s diplomatic efforts are being channelled particularly through Germany in order to keep pace with the EU as it rapidly develops its operative security policy mechanisms. During a seminar on this issue held yesterday in the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, Eckhard Lübkerneier of the German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the EU’s joint security and foreign policies were an open project. "It seems clear that Norway will be part of the EU’s first police operation in Bosnia, said Mr Traavik, who yesterday opened the seminar on European civilian crisis management. Winrich Kühne of the political think-tank, Wissenchaft und Politik in Berlin, said exactly what the Norwegians wanted to hear – that Germany needs Norway and the Nordic region’s experience in crisis management. According to Mr Traavik, this expertise is now an extremely effective instrument for Norway to participate in the EU’s security operations.

Victory for Gry Larsen in Young Labour election thriller (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Gry Larsen is the new leader of the Labour Party’s youth wing, the AUF, winning by the narrowest of margins. Eva Kristin Hansen is the first leader in the AUF’s 99 year history to be voted out of office – and by only three out of 347 votes. The battle was so even that none of the delegates gathered in Oslo for the vote dared to start celebrating, or commiserating, before both the results had been read out. Because of four spoiled ballot papers, neither of the candidates won more than half of the annual conference’s 347 votes. Two years ago Gry Larsen withdrew her candidacy for the AUF leadership to avoid a battle for the organization’s top slot. The question on everyone’s lips now is whether her election signals a change of political direction. Ms Hansen’s supporters claim that the AUF will steer more to the political right – a charge rejected by Ms Larsen. "I do not feel that there are any major political differences between me and Eva Kristin Hansen. I am more concerned to have a higher profile outside of the organization and to include the county and local branches," she said.

Government failing the poor (Dagsavisen)

The Norwegian people have pronounced a crushing verdict on the Bondevik government. According to a poll carried out by Opinion on behalf of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), only two out of a hundred people think the national budget is good for those on low incomes. The poll shows that only 14 per cent think next year’s budget is "a good budget for the majority of people". Last year 21 per cent of the population supported this description of the budget proposal. 56 per cent of those questioned said that this is a good budget for those who are particularly well off. The corresponding figure last year as 50 per cent.

Socialist Left Party member divides LO’s largest union (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

Norway’s largest trade union, the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees (NKF), is facing a bitter battle over the future of its deputy leader, Gunhild Johansen, who is a member of the Socialist Left Party. One day ahead of the union’s national conference, the selection committee has still not made up its mind. Tomorrow the NKF opens its national conference in Oslo. The main issue on the agenda is the proposed merger with the Norwegian Association of Health and Social Care Personnel (NHS) to create a new super-union with almost 300,000 members. However, the NKF has been riven by a fierce struggle for power. A number of individuals with roots in the Labour Party have tried to prevent Ms Johansen, a member of the rival Socialist Left Party, from being re-elected as deputy leader. And despite the fact that Ms Johansen has told the selection committee that she would like to be re-elected, it has still not made up its mind. According to several sources, the conflict extends right into the union’s working committee, and has been going on since the previous national conference four years ago.

Worth Noting

• 30 per cent of those who voted for the Christian Democratic Party at the last general election would vote for the Progress Party if there were an election today, according to a recent opinion poll.
  (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• The Government’s proposals to slash road-building investments mean that 21 projects which should have been started this year and next will have to be shelved indefinitely. Among those postponed are improvements to several accident black spots.
  (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• This week the European Commission put forward a secret and dramatic proposal for a new tariff agreement between Norway and the EU on food products. The Norwegian food industry fears the loss of its domestic market, worth some NOK 20 billion. The agricultural sector could be hard hit by this latest development in the EEA Agreement.
  (Nationen/Saturday)
• At the Centre Party’s national conference yesterday its chairman, Odd Roger Enoksen, offered to step down if that was what the party wished. He admitted to Dagbladet that this means he was prepared to continue as party leader if the selection committee asked him to. Mr Enoksen denied that he was a last resort for the Centre Party since both Marit Arnstand and Åslaug Haga have said they do not want to take on the party chairmanship. However, Ms Arnstad is now ready to become leader of the party’s parliamentary group.
  (Dagbladet/Sunday)
• "Central government wants to usurp an increasing number of the local authorities’ areas of responsibility. And it has already begun to happen," said Jonas Gahr Store, of the Centre for Economic Analysis (ECON). Mr Gahr Store says that local authorities will lose their reason for being if they do not defend themselves by changing the way they organize themselves.
  (Dagbladet)
• So far this year over 5,300 asylum seekers have been deported from Norway with a police escort. But 2,400 people whose applications for asylum have been rejected are still awaiting deportation.
  (Aftenposten)
• The Centre for Economic Analysis (ECON) has been brought in by International Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson to investigate the way foreign aid issues are handled by central government. The Foreign Ministry has initiated a wide-ranging evaluation of Norway’s development assistance policy-making machinery. Following an international invitation to tender for the contract, ECON was given the job. ECON has close links with the political leadership at the Foreign Ministry. Ms Frafjord Johnson’s State Secretary is on leave from his job at ECON, while her former State Secretary is a consultant with the company.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Transport Minister Torild Skogsholm (Lib) wants to allow electric cars to use bus lanes in an effort to save production of the Think electric car and 120 jobs in Aurskog, Akershus County.
  (Aftenposten)
• The recently published tax lists tell their unmistakable tale about the leaders of the country’s union movement. Norway’s most senior elected union officials are among the 5.4 per cent of the population who earn over NOK 500,000. Per Østvold of the Norwegian Union of Transport Workers is the only exception to this rule.
  (Klassekampen/Saturday)
• Det Norske Veritas’s board of directors has tightened up the company’s disclosure guidelines for senior managers, as well as their right to buy and sell shares and sit on the boards of other companies. Senior managers’ family members are also covered by the new guidelines.
  (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• It is becoming increasingly common for thieves who are caught red-handed to respond with violence, harassment and threats, and shops are being forced to spend more money to safeguard their staff. The price tag for these efforts has now reached NOK 630 million.
  (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
• Clothes have become 25 per cent cheaper since 1995. We save NOK 13 billion each year as a result of imports of cheap clothing from developing countries. Families with young children save the most. With an annual clothes budget of around NOK 30,000, the savings exceed NOK 11,000 a year. This is the equivalent of child benefit for one extra child.
  (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

Chairman Odd Roger Enoksen has said he is willing to step aside when the Centre Party’s selection committee discusses the composition of the party’s leadership after next spring’s national conference. It is a wise move. In the four years he has had responsibility for the Centre Party Mr Enoksen has not been a success. He has not managed to generate enthusiasm either in the party’s own ranks or among the voters, and he has compromised his credibility with a number of unfortunate remarks – such as when he, in an effort to be noticed, used the term "heartless" about the Government’s proposed national budget. It would nevertheless be too simple to give Mr Enoksen sole blame for the Centre Party’s dismal election results, even worse opinion poll results and for the fact that it has lost the important political influence which comes from having a pivotal position in the Storting. The Centre Party is not only suffering from a leadership crisis, we are also talking about a party in search of a political platform. The sense of powerlessness which now grips the party can be illustrated by the fact that no one wants to take over the leadership, with the result that Mr Enoksen could continue for another two years. One has to admire the reasons given by both former minister Marit Arnstad and deputy leader Åslaug Haga for not accepting the offer of the leadership. Both point to the fact that they wish to devote time to their children. Everyone who seeks high office in a political party risks being squeezed for time with their families. But it is easier to take on such a double role if the political office in question is perceived as meaningful. Today it is easy to see that leading the Centre Party does not exactly meet that demand.

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