Labour’s anti-war faction puts pressure on Stoltenberg (Dagsavisen)

Social Democrats Against War is organizing members of the Labour Party, Labour’s youth wing (AUF) and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) who oppose a war in Iraq into a network of activists. At the next central committee meeting of the Labour Party this coming Monday, opponents of a war are planning to call attention to the Iraq conflict. “Our attitude must be much firmer than it has been up to now,” said AUF leader Gry Larsen. “We must say no to war, not just wait to see what the UN does. Norway must let it be known that we will not send soldiers to participate in any war in Iraq.” Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg’s response was to underline that “under international law, all countries are bound to abide by resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council”.

Call for more Nato exercises in Norwegian countryside (Aftenposten)

“We must make it attractive for our allies to hold training exercises in Norway, and in northern Norway in particular,” said Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold. “We can offer a demanding climate and topography. At the same time, our soldiers will have the opportunity of training alongside our allies.” This year the total number of days Nato soldiers will spend training in Norway will increase from 275,000 to 320,000. Both the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature and reindeer owners in Finnmark have protested vigorously against what they describe as ‘military tourists’. “If there is any more bombing now, it will spell the death of reindeer husbandry,” said reindeer owner Samuel John Anti.

Rebuke for Bondevik (Verdens Gang)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik (Chr.Dem) was put firmly in his place at a closed-door session of the Storting’s extended Foreign Affairs Committee. At its meeting on Monday, the Committee slammed Mr Bondevik’s repeated claim that Norway was not bound to support a war in Iraq even if it was approved by the UN. Several Committee sources have confirmed that Foreign Minister Jan Petersen said that it is clear that from the moment the UN adopts a new resolution, that resolution is binding on Norway. “It was the gap between the Foreign Minister’s comments and those of the PM which was discussed. We asked for clarification of what the Government’s view is, and we had a round of explanations,” said an opposition party source.

Pensions hammered by EU membership (Nationen)

Norwegian local authorities, regional health authorities and pension funds will suffer a hammering if Norway joins the EU, because interest rates within the EU are lower than they are in Norway. According to Sven-Henning Kjeldsrud of the Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission, if interest rates fall significantly, it will mean that pension funds’ profits will be cut or could even disappear altogether. If interest rates remain low over the long term, these companies will probably have trouble adjusting to the situation.

Giske: Clemet is destroying all we have built up (Dagbladet)

According to Labour’s former Education Minister Trond Giske, the present incumbent, Kristin Clemet, has destroyed all the trust her predecessors have built up. “Major changes must be the result of a dialogue with the people concerned,” said Mr Giske. “Ms Clemet has shown herself to have an arrogant attitude. She has demonstrated that she is the one who runs the show when it comes to the Norwegian education system, but it looks as though she has started a fight between herself, the teachers and the politicians. It is a fight that no one benefits from, least of all the pupils,” he said. He agrees that it was necessary to transfer responsibility for pay negotiations from central government to the local authorities, but criticizes the current Education Minister Kristin Clemet for not discussing the change with the teaching unions first.

Relations between Clemet and teachers at freezing point (Vårt Land)

Education Minister Kristin Clemet (Con) has succeeded in provoking the fury of the country’s 100,000 primary and secondary school teachers. “Both the teachers and the rest of the population must have known that this would come. The teaching unions are perfectly within their rights to argue and fight their case, but they must not imagine that they determine overall education policy,” said senior lecturer Alfred Oftedal Telhaug at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Programme for Teacher Education.

Political deal could block bank merger (Aftenposten)

An agreement between the Socialist Left Party and the ruling coalition parties could block any merger between Den norske Bank (DnB) and Gjensidige NOR before 2005. According to the Socialist Left Party’s economic policy spokesman, Øystein Djupedal, the deal will either prevent a merger between the banks or generate an enormous row in the Storting. If DnB and Gjensidige were to merge, the state’s shareholding in DnB, which currently stands at 48 per cent, would fall below 34 per cent. This is something the Government does not have the authority to allow, so the merger would have to be debated in the Storting. And that is where agreement ends. Mr Djupedal has given notice that the Socialist Left Party would vote against any attempt to reduce the state’s shareholding, and claims that a written agreement binds the Conservatives, Liberals and Christian Democrats to do the same.

Norwegians with lowest alcohol consumption in Europe (Dagsavisen)

Last year we poured ourselves more alcoholic drinks than we have done for 22 years, according to a recent report, which also includes smuggled hooch, tax-free and home distilled spirits. But even so, we land at the bottom of the list in Europe when it comes to drinking. “High prices and limited availability put a damper on consumption. But culture also has an important impact. In Norway, drinking is not a day-to-day activity, but something we do on festive occasions,” said Øyvind Horverak, a researcher with the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS).

Worth Noting

• The Oslo branch of the Labour Party wants Norway to restrict its participation to humanitarian aid, not military support if the UN approves an armed offensive against Iraq. The Oslo branch of Labour’s youth movement (AUF) mobilized its members to a party meeting yesterday evening, and passed this startling declaration, which runs completely counter to the views of the Labour Party leadership.
  (NTB)
• Norway has not given up hope of retaining a Nato presence at Jåttå when the operational command centre there is closed down. “We have come to accept that Nato will close down its operations at Jåttå, regardless of what Norway feels about it. It will be a challenge for Norway to find a place in Nato’s new command structure. We want to have as big an allied presence in Norway as possible,” said Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold.
  (NTB)
• Support for Norwegian membership of the EU is staying strong. 53.6 per cent of the population wants Norway to join the EU, while a third of Norwegians say no. The main reason Norwegians have become more positive to EU membership is Norway’s lack of influence.
  (Verdens Gang)
• The third round of negotiations to extend the EEA Agreement have been cancelled, apparently because the gap between the two sides is too large.
  (Nationen)
• Italian police have arrested a gang thought to have held up and robbed at least 30 container lorries of dried fish over the past two years. So far, the police do not know if any Norwegian trucks have been hijacked by the gang. In recent years, several Norwegian shipments of dried fish have been held up on Italian highways.
  (Aftenposten)
• Never before have the two largest industrial organizations belonging to the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) lost so many members in a single year. The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) has also felt the effects of the industrial downturn. Fewer members means millions of kroner in lost revenues.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• A Christian Democrat politician has said that doctors should stop giving methadone to pregnant drug addicts and send them for involuntary rehabilitation instead. So far 37 children have been born to methadone users in Norway – and the number is growing.
  (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

It is appalling that Norway may have to ration electricity because there is so little water in our hydro-electric reservoirs. Our country is so rich in energy that we should never have got to a situation with sky-high electricity prices and the prospect of rationing. We have known for a long time that in abnormal years we could face a power crisis. The forecasts for consumption compared with production and transmission capacity have shown the need to build new power stations. Nevertheless, the politicians have closed their eyes and done nothing. We could have prevented this power crisis by building more hydro-electric power stations. But there are good arguments in favour of allowing the water that still flows freely in our rivers to continue to do so. In our opinion, gas-fired power stations are the obvious solution to this challenge. Gas-fired power stations are more environmentally friendly than the coal-fired power stations whose output we are now forced to import in large quantities. The gas is available at landing facilities which are lying there waiting to be used. In other words, the infrastructure is already in place. The only thing lacking is for the politicians to express some real willingness to support gas-power, so that the producers can be confident of having favourable long-term operating conditions. We should demand more of our Energy Minister than that he simply issues a letter asking everyone to please save electricity.