The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 57/00

Date: 21 March 2000

KFOR EXPENDITURES GETTING OUT OF HAND (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian KFOR contingent is headed for a gigantic spending deficit. According to a statement submitted to the Storting by former Defence Minister Eldbjørg Løwer right before she stepped down, expenditures for international military operations this year are projected to overrun the budget by NOK 1.3 billion. Voices are now being raised in the Storting for cutting back Norwegian military operations abroad. This will chiefly affect Norway’s UN involvement, since Norway has already accepted NATO obligations.

ANTI-EU FORCES DIGGING IN (Nationen)

Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland wishes to move the process of getting Norway into the EU into high gear. No to the EU is increasing its guard against Mr. Jagland’s accession propaganda. Two recent surveys have indicated a majority in favour of Norwegian membership of the EU. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg does not believe an EU membership referendum is likely to be held in the coming electoral term.

MOVEMENT TO OUST JAN PETERSEN (Verdens Gang)

Gustav Heiberg Simonsen—city councilman, supreme court barrister and veteran industrialist—has now become the spokesman for a strong movement in the Oslo Conservative Party calling for Jan Petersen’s resignation as Conservative Party chairman. Mr. Simonsen and other prominent Conservatives in Oslo want Per-Kristian Foss to be made party chairman at the national party convention to be held in Bergen the first weekend in May.

PETERSEN STRIKES BACK (Dagbladet)

Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen is making an effort to sweep away all internal criticism in order to focus on winning the psychological war with the centrist coalition. His critics feel the change in Government was handled ineptly and that Mr. Petersen is irreversibly associated with this debacle. Remember it was Thorbjørn Jagland’s 36.9 per cent ultimatum that gave Mr. Bondevik his step up, and I strongly doubt that Jens Stoltenberg will try that trick. The centrist coalition will be absolutely dependent on the Conservatives in order to field a credible alternative to Labour in 2001, says Mr. Petersen.

GISKE WILL NOT RESORT TO COMPULSION (Dagsavisen)

Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs Trond Giske will not use his political authority to force the Church to change its stand on homosexuality. It is important to achieve equality for homosexuals in the Church. How to accomplish this is something I will come back to, is what Mr. Giske said late last week. He has now decided on how he will proceed, and it will not be through the exercise of political power. Mr. Giske emphasized that he will take active part in the debate and express his views openly, but that he will leave the spiritual and theological decisions to Church leaders.

NOK 175,000 PER MONTH FOR A DANISH DOCTOR (Verdens Gang)

A Danish firm hires out Danish doctors to Norwegian hospitals for NOK 130,000 to 175,000 per month. Transmedica AS is the only firm currently licensed in Norway to provide health care personnel on a temporary basis, making several tens of millions of kroner every year keeping hard-pressed Norwegian hospitals staffed. It has 700-800 doctors in short or long-term placement, most of them at Norwegian hospitals.

WORTH NOTING

• The service sector is delighted with Minister of Health Tore Tønne’s expressed interest in opening up for private enterprise in the health care sector. But the Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH) feels a procurement directive for health care services should be drawn up and implemented without delay. (Dagsavisen)
• The Labour Party’s finance politicians propose a sale of the Kreditkassen bank to MeritaNordbanken. They will soon hold a meeting with Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schøtt-Pedersen to gain the assurance that he agrees. They also want to develop Den norske Bank (DnB) into a strong Norwegian finance institution. (Verdens Gang)
• Bergen is likely to set a new record this year. 172 cruise ships are scheduled to call in at Bergen in the course of the summer, breaking the previous record of 164 ships in 1994. The 2000 season confirms Bergen’s standing as Norway’s pre-eminent cruise port. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• While all other newspapers in Norway are losing readers, Verdens Gang has shown a slight increase in circulation, according to a survey taken by Norsk Gallup for Forbruker og Media. Norwegians still lead the world in newspaper reading, with local papers accounting for a major portion of their reading. (Aftenposten)
• The state will appeal the judgement handed down by the Alta District Court in the case of the dismissal of rebel pastors Olav Berg Lyngo and Arne Thorsen. Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs Trond Giske takes special note of the dissenting opinion in the judgement, in which the professional judge was outvoted by the two lay judges. Mr. Giske points out that the perception of a bishop’s authority expressed in the judgement is difficult for the Church of Norway to accept. (NTB)
• Norwegian fathers are falling steadily behind in their child support payments, with a total of over NOK 3 billion in arrears at the end of last year. The greatest delinquency is noted in Finnmark and in Oslo. (Nationen)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Verdens Gang

Jens Stoltenberg, our new Prime Minister, and his Foreign Minister, Thorbjørn Jagland, were quick to make their stand on EU issues clear. The Government will pursue a considerably more active European policy than its predecessor. And it’s about time! The pace of development in the EU is rising steadily and we are falling just as steadily behind. The day Mr. Jagland moved into his new office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he told Verdens Gang that he regarded European policy as the most important part of Norway’s foreign policy. It matters less whether both he and the PM express themselves with more caution when Norwegian EU membership comes up. Both of them know that the stronger the Government makes its point in the matter, the more fuel it adds to the debate. There is little doubt that Mr. Jagland faces a difficult task. The development of a common defence and security policy is Brussels’ top priority these days. Even if Mr. Jagland, as head of the Labour Party, enjoyed free access to all the social-democratic governments in the EU countries, it would not weigh up for the simple fact that Norway is still not part of the EU. Mr. Jagland will soon discover that despite the priority he gives to relations with the EU, the EU does not give relations with Norway the same priority. Brussels has more important business to take care of.