Mullah Krekar to Norway yesterday (Aftenposten)

Mullah Krekar landed at Gardermoen Airport yesterday evening after being released from a Dutch jail earlier in the day. “We will bring him in for questioning at some time in the next few days,” said Unni Fries of the Police Security Service. She declined to comment on whether Mullah Krekar would be facing charges, though he could still be extradited to Jordan. Yesterday, the Director General of Public Prosecutions Tor-Aksel Busch received a request for Mullah Krekar’s extradition from the Jordanian authorities. He also runs the risk of being expelled from Norway. Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg is refusing to say anything about when a decision on Mullah Krekar’s future may be made.

Krekar: It is all lies (Verdens Gang)

Mullah Krekar said last night that he would fight tooth and nail to clear his name. “I feel that Norway is my country, and it is here I wish to live,” he said. A secret agreement between the Norwegian and Dutch governments ensured that Mullah Krekar could return to Norway yesterday. But reliable sources within the Local Government and Regional Affairs Ministry have told VG that shortly – perhaps in just a few days – the Immigration Authority will be instructed to make a decision regarding Mullah Krekar’s future.

Hagen: Throw him out! (Dagbladet)

“Is it the Norwegian authorities who are running the country or has some foreigner taken control?” thundered Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen. He wants Mullah Krekar thrown out of the country. Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg responded by saying, “The Norwegian authorities govern Norway according to Norwegian law. And Norwegian law makes certain demands with regard to how cases are dealt with. In the Krekar case no final decision has been made.” Mr Hagen is up in arms over the fact that police officers did not arrest Mullah Krekar when he landed at Gardermoen Airport. “I do not understand why the Police Security Service are going to question him in a few days’ time instead of detaining him immediately so he can later travel to his homeland together with his family,” said Mr Hagen.

Biggest ever majority for EU membership (TV2)

The attitude of Norwegian voters to the EU has changed dramatically. A recent poll carried out by Norsk Gallup on behalf of TV2 shows the strongest ever support for EU membership. 58.3 per cent of the Norwegian population is now in favour of Norwegian membership of the EU, while 28.5 per cent is opposed. Supporters of EU membership are even in the majority in the north of Norway, where opposition has always previously been overwhelming. According to political scientist Frank Aarebrot, the results are not so surprising, given the fact that support for the EU has been gaining ground in recent months. “What astonishes me is the low percentage of don’t-knows,” he said. The poll shows that only 11 per cent of those questioned had not made up their minds, while 2.3 per cent said they would not vote at all.

Bondevik approves “dirty” mobile power stations (Dagsavisen)

The temporary gas-fired power stations approved by the Bondevik government will have a damaging effect on the environment. In four months they will emit more nitrogen oxide than the two planned gas-fired power stations at Kårstø and Kollsnes would emit in the course of a whole year. “It is plain that this plant is of a type which would never have been given a permanent operating licence. But we are in the midst of a very special situation,” said Øyvind Hårbrekke (Chr.Dem), political adviser at the Petroleum and Energy Ministry.

WTO gives Norway right to compensation (Nationen)

Bjørn T. Grydeland, Norway’s Ambassador to the EU and leader of our EEA negotiating team, has confirmed that the WTO gives Norway the right to compensation for the tariff barriers the EU is planning to raise in the new member countries. But it is not certain whether Norway will insist on exercising its rights. The EU does not accept that Norway has such a right and the EU’s chief negotiator, Percy Westerlund, denies that Norway has made any such a demand. “As the situation stands at the moment, the most important thing is for the Norwegian negotiators to be uncompromising on the issue of Norwegian sovereignty over our fisheries resources,” said Maria S. Walberg, leader of the organization Youth Against the EU, referring to the negotiations to renew the EEA Agreement, which started last week.

Petroleum Fund makes another record loss on investments (Aftenposten)

An upturn towards the end of the year was not enough to rescue the Government Petroleum Fund’s 2002 result, which ended up being twice as bad as 2001 – itself a poor year. This means that the accumulated return on investment over the past two years stands at around seven per cent. The stock market is to blame. 50 per cent of the Fund’s investments are in shares. The stronger Norwegian currency also means that the Fund’s investments, measured in Norwegian kroner, are worth even less than they are in foreign currencies.

Christian Democrats in a quandary (Vårt Land)

The Christian Democratic Party is in a quandary about what to do if Valgerd Svarstad Haugland decides to step down as chairwoman. However, most party activists believe she will, in the end, agree to stand for re-election – though they would understand if she did not. The candidates most tipped for the vacant deputy leader slot, following Odd Anders With’s resignation, are politicians barely past their thirtieth birthday. Although they are considered promising, many within the party would prefer it if they had had more of a chance to prove that they can handle themselves in a larger political arena. A number of party activists point out that the Christian Democrats have neglected the recruitment of new talent during the 1990s.

400,000 voters turn their backs on ruling coalition (Verdens Gang)

Over 400,000 voters have turned their backs on the three ruling coalition parties – the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party – since the general election in the autumn of 2001, according to Norsk Gallup’s January poll. The winners are the Socialist Left Party and the Labour Party, which make a combined gain of 4.5 percentage points. Christian Democratic Party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland says the ruling coalition parties are suffering because unpopular decisions never pay off. Socialist Left Party leader, Kristin Halvorsen, believes that the Government is losing ground because of the high price of electricity, the fear of a war in Iraq and because they do not have the drive to fulfil earlier promises.

Acceptance for Brende’s proposal (Dagbladet)

Environmental experts from around the globe will arrive in Norway tomorrow to establish a new, interdisciplinary scientific panel on global environmental change. The creation of the new scientific panel is seen as a breakthrough in the work to combat climate change and other environmental problems. Environment Minister Børge Brende launched the idea of putting together a team of scientists from different disciplines almost a year ago, during the global environment ministers’ meeting in Cartagena, but was met with much opposition. However, at the UN-sponsored World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last autumn, Mr Brende and the Norwegian negotiators nevertheless won acceptance for the proposal.

Worth Noting

• Sven Roald Nystø, President of the Sámi Assembly, believes Norway should join the EU. According to Mr Nystø, EU membership would give the Sámi people greater control over the natural resources in Finnmark. “The EU’s regional policy suits the Sámi people down to the ground,” he said.
  (NRK)
• With 75 research positions for doctors and dentists currently vacant, Norway is turning into a second-class country when it comes to medical research. As a result Norwegian patients may be forced to travel abroad to receive advanced medical treatment.
  (Aftenposten)
• 17 per cent of the country’s small and medium-sized companies think they will have to shed staff in the coming two years. Despite this, 60 per cent of those who expect to downsize plan to pay their owners a dividend.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• At the end of last week Braathens launched a massive advertising campaign for four new destinations. But the number of cut-price tickets was so small that by yesterday it was almost impossible to get a cut-price flight until late in the autumn. Braathens are offering only 20 seats per flight at the lowest possible price. The Consumer Ombudsman is now planning to demand that Braathens and other airlines offer a minimum number of tickets when they launch this kind of advertising campaign.
  (Aftenposten)
• According to Bjørn Skogstad Aamot, head of the Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission, “a handful of banks” are suffering from liquidity problems. Enebakk Sparebank and Nordlandsbanken are two of them, but the market itself will have to find out which other banks fit the bill.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• More and more young girls drop out of Norwegian competitive sports. Experts believe that one reason for this is that girls are not taken as seriously as boys. “High-level sport is based on and dictated by the interests of men,” said Mari Kristin Sisjord, senior lecturer at the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education.
  (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

Statoil and Statnett have applied for permission to build a temporary gas-fired power station at Kollsnes in Hordaland County. The power station could go into production very quickly, and would provide electricity for 50,000-60,000 homes. The power station would not have any significant impact on electricity prices, but it could help to reduce the probability of electricity rationing this winter. A temporary gas-fired power station of this kind emits far more pollution than an ordinary gas-fired power station. Granting approval to such a scheme must therefore be difficult for the Christian Democratic Party and, in particular, Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs. The Christian Democrats oppose the construction of gas-fired power stations “without carbon dioxide handling”. But what else can the Minister do? The power crisis has exposed the fact that the Government does not have a good plan for safeguarding winter electricity supplies. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. This winter’s shock price hikes have made politicians sit up and take note. The question is whether Norway, one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas, will in future be able to avoid using some of its own gas to secure the country’s energy supplies. We believe gas-fired power stations will prove impossible to avoid. It is therefore vital to develop the technology needed to limit carbon dioxide emissions