Norway Daily No. 203/99

The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 203/99

DATE: 21 October 1999

CLINTON TO VISIT NORWAY IN NOVEMBER

(Aftenposten)

Bill Clinton will be the first sitting US president to visit Norway. The occasion of his visit will be a meeting in commemoration of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on 2 November. Current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will also attend, as will Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority. Though the commemoration is highlighted, a summit for peace in the Middle East may turn out to be the main event.

BONDEVIK PLEASED THE CLINTON IS COMING

(Dagsavisen)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik received confirmation from the White House last night that President Bill Clinton will attend the Middle East summit in Oslo in November. "We discussed this when I met him in Washington last week, and I had the distinct impression that he wanted to come. I am very glad to hear that he will be coming," says Mr. Bondevik.

POLICE FACE MAJOR SECURITY CHALLENGE

(Verdens Gang)

Never before will so many potential targets of terrorism have been present in Oslo at one time. Norwegian police face their greatest challenge ever on 1 and 2 November. Besides President Clinton, Prime Minister Barak and President Arafat, Egyptian President Mohammed Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan and King Mohammad of Morocco will also be present.

OPEN GARDERMOEN HEARINGS

(Aftenposten)

The Storting's Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs decided yesterday to hold open hearings on Gardermoen in January to clarify a number of circumstances surrounding the airport and railway projects. The winter weather report will also be discussed. Two former heads of the Civil Aviation Administration now say that the winter conditions documented in the report are affecting airport operations. They both feel the CAA's credibility has suffered from the fact that this report never reached the public.

COALITION, LABOUR AGREE ON CELEBRITY TAX

(Dagsavisen)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik proposes to amend tax regulations exploited by celebrity artists to reduce their taxes. Labour Party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland views this as a concession which will make it easier to reach a compromise with the coalition parties.

BONDEVIK DOES NOT ENDORSE LABOUR'S BUDGET

(NTB/Nationen)

"I have never endorsed the figures presented by the Labour Party in the fiscal budget negotiations; neither the tax figures nor the proposed reductions. I have merely acknowledged is that there is a basis for negotiation with Labour," says Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

LIMITED PROSPECTS FOR MERITA NORDBANKEN IN KREDITKASSEN

(Dagsavisen)

Swedish-Finnish MeritaNordbanken will be allowed to acquire only a small stake in the Kreditkassen bank. The Government and the coalition parties insist that Norwegian state ownership must be maintained at a minimum of 34 per cent in both Kreditkassen and Den norske Bank (DnB). This fact was made clear after the Christian Democratic parliamentary group gave its advice to the Government.

HIGHER PAY WILL NOT NECESSARILY HELP

(Dagsavisen)

Raising nurses' pay will not necessarily induce them to go from part-time to full-time work. A number of surveys indicate that most nurses working part-time are doing it by choice. The Institute of Applied Social Sciences (FAFO) is in the process of completing a survey in which 60 per cent of health personnel interviewed replied that professional development weighed more than pay as an inducement to work more.

DOCTORS PREPARING FOR A FIGHT

(Dagens Næringsliv)

The Norwegian Medical Association gives notice that through the Academics, the new federation of professional associations, it will put up a fight for market-level pay in public-sector jobs. The spring of 2000 will bring a labour settlement the like of which has never been seen before in Norway. The NMA hints that it will employ non-traditional means to reach its ends, though it would not disclose what it intends to do.

ILLEGAL ALIENS LIVING OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM

(Aftenposten)

A number of foreign nationals have been working and living in Norway for years under false identities. They live in hiding and work on the black market, often in virtual slavery and under heavy pressure. So far this year, 274 children and adults have been discovered and taken into custody. These people live outside the system - they cannot go to school or receive medical help. According to the police, they are discovered mostly by chance.

WORTH NOTING

• The voters have responded favourably to Thorbjørn Jagland's new strategy of collaboration. Just a few days after he signalled a desire to cooperate with the Bondevik Government, Labour gained 6.6 points in Feedback's October poll. (Nationen)
• Tormod Hermansen will earn as much in two weeks as a teacher fresh out of teaching college earns in one year. It will take him only seven weeks to earn what Norway's prime minister earns in a year. (Vårt Land)
• Fish farming is among the most dangerous occupations in Norway. With 402 personal injuries and 14 fatalities between 1980 and 1999, fish farming takes third place in the list of hazardous occupations. (Verdens Gang)
• 65 per cent of all who have contacted their banks this year to obtain lower interest rates have been successful. (Dagbladet)
• The world's leading nature magazine, the National Geographic, has now said it: coastal Norway is one of the world's outstanding travel destinations. The Norwegian coastline is the only Scandinavian listing in the National Geographic's 50 Places of a Lifetime. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY'S COMMENT

Labour's women MPs have reacted to recent documentation of forced marriages and "honour killings". They do not accept male elitists oppressing women under the cover of culture or religion, and they have asked the Government to draw up a list of measures to be taken against such misdeeds. Minister of Justice Odd Einar Dørum has announced legal measures which will make it easier to detect forced marriages arranged for the sole purpose of securing admission to Norway. Any such marriages may be voided by a court of law, and will provide no basis for immigration. The Government should also act on proposals to instruct welfare offices and child welfare services to help girls and boys who are pressured into forced marriages. There are indications that these public welfare officers have not taken appeals for help seriously. (Dagbladet)