The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 115/00

Date: 21 June 2000

DRAMATIC DOWNSCALING OF NATIONAL DEFENCE (Verdens Gang)

Only three of Norway’s eleven air bases will be left operative if Defence Study 2000 is implemented as presented tomorrow. The first skirmish is likely to be over Andøya, where the Orion surveillance aircraft are stationed. The three main air bases at Rygge, Bodø and ørland will be kept running, but the rest will be closed. The army and navy can expect substantial reductions as well.

GARDERMOEN AIR BASE MAY BE SOLD (Dagsavisen)

The Defence Study proposes the closure of the military air base at Gardermoen and recommends selling both Gardermoen and Værnes air bases.

STOLTENBERG WOOS CENTRE AND LEFT (Dagbladet)

Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg would be prepared to sit down with the Socialist Left’s Kristin Halvorsen and Odd Roger Enoksen of the Centre Party if they had shown any interest in forming Norway’s first majority Government since 1961. But the Centre Party will remain faithful to the centrist alliance, and Ms. Halvorsen has stated that "Labour’s rightward lean must be straightened up first".

STOLTENBERG PREPARED TO SPEND MORE OIL MONEY (Dagsavisen)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is looking for ways to inject more oil revenues into the Norwegian economy. He believes the Labour Party is losing votes on account of the miserly reputation it is acquiring.

LOCAL REFUGEE OBLIGATIONS SHOULD BE MANDATORY (Dagsavisen)

The Norwegian Refugee Council takes the view that municipalities should not have the option of refusing to accept refugees. The Council asserts that today’s arrangement makes it difficult for refugees to be integrated into Norwegian society.

LIFE WAS SAFER BEFORE (Nationen)

Seventy-one per cent of adult Norwegians believe things were safer for children when they were growing up. Women, the elderly and Progress and Christian Democratic voters in particular feel things have got worse. But law sociologist Leif Petter Olaussen takes the view that society has never been safer. "News headlines and an increased focus on children have coloured our perceptions," he says.

JOURNALISTS’ STRIKE AVERTED (NRK)

Twenty-four hours after the bargaining deadline, the Norwegian Union of Journalists and the Norwegian Newspaper Publishers' Association have accepted a solution proposed by the state mediator. It does not include a seventh week of holiday, but it recognizes a widened scope of intellectual property rights. Journalists will now receive compensation for material republished on the Internet, for instance.

NRK BOARD REPLACED (Dagens Næringsliv)

Minister of Cultural Affairs Ellen Horn has dismissed not only the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s board chairman, but the entire board as well. She justifies her action by pointing to NRK’s projected NOK 80 million loss for 2000. Torger Reve, head of the Norwegian School of Management, is the new board chairman, with Anne Carine Tanum, Christian Thommesen, Else Bugge Fougner, Hilde Sjurelv and Stig Herbern as the new board members.

SERBIAN CITIES SPEND NORWEGIAN GRANT ON PUBLIC SERVICES (Aftenposten)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given a NOK 3 million grant to cities ruled by the opposition in Serbia. The equivalent of NOK 340,000 is being spent on public refuse bins in Nis, and other towns are spending the money on public kitchens, school camps and water pumps. "An odd thing to do," says Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen. Foreign Ministry Assistant Secretary General Jan Braathu confirms that the Ministry knew what the money was going to be spent on. "Clean cities are important, too," he says.

WORTH NOTING

• A former city employee in Oslo has reportedly transferred around NOK 11 million in municipal funds to his own bank account over a 10-year period. When confronted with his crime, he blamed it on his grossly extravagant spending habits.
• Norway’s health care system has been rated 11 ^th> in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO). France came out best in this survey, followed by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan. Norway leads the rest of Scandinavia by a generous margin. (Dagsavisen)
• Canadian producers of smoked fish accuse Norway of dumping practices, selling smoked salmon at 30 to 40 per cent below normal prices. The salmon industry in Norway does not believe the complaint will succeed. (Aftenposten)
• Rain and cludy skies are forecast for Midsummer Night. Anyone wanting nice weather for the occasion will have to go to the Mediterranean. (Verdens Gang)
• Newborn babies are getting bigger in Norway. Three per cent of newborns weighed over 4.5 kg in 1980. This figure had grown to 4.8 per cent in 1998. (Dagbladet)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Dagsavisen

Minister of Cultural Affairs Ellen Horn dismissed the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s entire board, including board chairman Kåre Willoch. The new board, consisting of economics and business professionals, would have been a credible executive board for the Oslo Stock Exchange. If it had been appointed by a non-socialist Government, it would have been viewed as a veritable right-wing provocation, but as matters stand, it must be seen as a symbol of the convulsions taking place in the media industry. These changes in the NRK’s board and programme profile reflect the prevailing currents of the times we live in, but TV2 has suddenly done a turnaround and is going against the flow. More news, less entertainment, greater credibility and fewer excesses are the order of the day. This is backed up by the recent appointment of Harald Norvik, former state secretary and former chief of Norway’s biggest state-owned corporation, to chair the board. It makes one wonder whether these two broadcasting corporations are aiming to switch positions.