Foreign Ministry shock at Rød-Larson award (Aftenposten)

The Foreign Ministry is keen to get to the bottom of the affair as quickly as possible. The possibility of impropriety in connection with the receipt of money from the Shimon Peres Centre by UN Special Envoy Terje Rød-Larsen and his wife Mona Juul, who is Norway’s Ambassador to Israel, shook the Foreign Ministry yesterday. Officials Aftenposten spoke to made it plain that all the facts would be brought to light as quickly as possible. "The couple may have got their roles mixed up," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Karsten Klepsvik. "They have received a considerable sum of prize money within an area in which they have been working while employed by the Civil Service. In principle the money should have been handed over to the Foreign Ministry if it is of any significant amount," he said.

"This is absolutely no problem" (Dagsavisen)

"This has not struck me as posing any problem whatsoever," said Mona Juul, adding that she did not understand why the Israeli media were criticizing her and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, for having received a monetary prize from the Shimon Peres Centre. Norway’s Ambassador to Israel denies that she has had anything to do with the Foreign Ministry’s financial assistance to the Centre. The Foreign Ministry is today due to conclude its investigation into the peace prize, worth USD 100,000, which the couple received in 1999.

Not a penny spent (Verdens Gang)

Norway’s Ambassador to Israel, Mona Juul, says that she has not spent a single penny of the prize money she and her husband won in 1999. The money is on deposit at a Norwegian bank, waiting to be used in the cause of peace. "Any donation has different kinds of political repercussions here," said Mona Juul to VG last night. She emphasized that she was speaking for herself and not for her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen. He has admitted that he spent some of the money to pay for expenses when he was neither employed by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry nor the UN.

Norwegian food to be investigated (Verdens Gang)

The Norwegian Food Control Authority and the National Institute of Public Health will initiate an immediate risk assessment of Norwegian food products following the publication of a shock report from Sweden. Swedish research shows that the cancer-inducing substance, acrylamide can be found in relatively large quantities in fried cereal and potato products. The Swedish research estimates that acrylamide is responsible for upwards of 700 cases of cancer each year.

Statkraft asks Government for NOK 40 billion (Dagens Næringsliv)

The state-owned electricity company, Statkraft, will need up to NOK 40 billion in new shareholders’ capital when it is transformed into a limited company – and is asking the Government to stump up the cash. The amount Statkraft is asking for is the equivalent of the combined annual budgets of the Defence and Agriculture Ministries. The Government has decided to change Statkraft’s status from that of a state enterprise to a limited company. In practice this means that Statkraft will be run on a more commercial footing, and that the state guarantees it currently enjoys will disappear.

Norway’s handling of EEA-related issues under fire (Aftenposten)

A recent report from the Directorate of Public Management shows that the Government and the public administration have major problems dealing with EEA-related issues. The report paints a picture of a flood of EU directives and EEA-related decisions sloshing more or less at random around the central government administration. There is little interest among civil servants and MPs for these issues, until the EU makes a decision on them and the matter is in practice closed. The report says that Norwegian influence over the development of a new regulatory framework in the EU is minimal. On the whole Norway is faced with a series of faits accomplis.

Salmon conflict nearing a solution (Dagens Næringsliv)

Behind-the-scenes diplomacy by the Dutch company, Nutreco, is on the point of resolving the conflict between Norway and the EU over salmon exports. But at a price. For weeks Nutreco, the world’s largest salmon-farming company, has been engaged in a secret diplomatic mission to resolve the problem internally within the industry. The objective is to prevent the European Commission having any case to proceed with. To achieve that end, peace must be made with Irish and Scottish salmon farmers. The British government has already softened its stance. To reach a peace agreement, Norwegian salmon farmers will have to spend several hundred million kroner extra on joint marketing initiatives.

SAS silent on redundancies (Aftenposten)

Furious Braathens employees yesterday learned that around 1,000 people are to be made redundant. Braathens’ management were left to break the news themselves. Senior executives from SAS had made themselves scarce. SAS’s management wanted to say as little as possible yesterday, but are visibly uncomfortable with the situation. "This is complicated stuff," said Braathens’ chief executive, Vidar Meum. In short the ‘complicated stuff’ is that Braathens and SAS expect to save NOK 130 million by shedding surplus jobs following SAS’s take over of Braathens. The jobs facing the axe are in so-called ‘ground handling’. Braathens has around 1,050 such jobs, compared with 1,500 in SAS.

Worth Noting

• Husband and wife peace negotiators Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul received another peace prize in 1999 – this time with Shimon Peres among the jury members. This second prize was not reported to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry either. In 1999 the couple received almost NOK 1 million in prize money. (Verdens Gang)
• The Government decided on Thursday to grant NOK 96.5 million in emergency aid to the Palestinian-controlled areas. The money will be used to make necessary repairs on the West Bank. (NTB)
• The Conservatives are back on top as the country’s largest party, while support for the Progress Party has dropped the most, according to MMI’s April poll. The Labour Party inches forward 1.4 percentage points and now has the backing of around 20 per cent of the electorate. (Dagbladet)
• The Storting’s Foreign Affairs Committee will present its proposition for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Wednesday, 8 May. "This means that Norway plays its part in ensuring the Kyoto Protocol comes into effect as quickly as possible, and preferably before the World Summit on Sustainable Development which will take place in Johannesburg at the end of the summer," said Bjørn Jacobsen (Socialist Left), who was responsible for guiding the proposition through the committee stage. (NTB)
• Kjell Inge Røkke is embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with a group of minority shareholders who have demanded a higher price in connection with the compulsory redemption of their shares in Norway Seafoods, Aker RGI and Aker Maritime. Mr Røkke has now announced he will take his case to the highest court in the land. (Aftenposten)
• Firms in Eastern Europe are offering to secure political asylum in Norway for between NOK 15,000 and NOK 30,000. The companies arrange for visas, transport and provide a realistic story of persecution. (Bergens Tidende)
• It takes around six minutes to fly from east to west in Switzerland. To get more airspace in which to train, Swiss air force pilots come to Norway. Pilots from neutral Switzerland have been training in South Trøndelag for several years. (Adresseavisen)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet and Dagsavisen

The Israeli government has initiated a veritable smear campaign against UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Terje Rød-Larsen and his wife, Norway’s Ambassador to Israel Mona Juul. According to Israeli media, inspired by the coterie surrounding Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, there is something shady about a prize the couple were awarded three years ago by the so-called Peres Centre. It was supposed to have been a quid pro quo for Shimon Peres receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The campaign against the couple must be seen in light of the past few weeks’ military offensive and the UN’s efforts to get to the bottom of what happened at the Palestinian city of Jenin. It is doubtful that Mr Rød-Larsen will be able to act effectively as the UN’s go-between in the Middle East conflict. When one of the parties no longer wants anything to do with him, his legitimacy is shattered. Mr Rød-Larsen and Ms Juul’s dealings in connection with the prize have also been questioned from a Norwegian perspective. There is a suspicion that they may have violated the provisions of the Civil Service Act by not informing the Foreign Ministry of the prize money which accompanied the award. We expect the Foreign Ministry to clear this matter up quickly. (Dagbladet) All the circumstances surrounding the peace prize, worth USD 100,000, which Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul received from the Peres Centre in Israel, need to be clarified quickly. All the individual factors leading up to the award must be brought to light and how the money has been spent must be documented. Both Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen were employed by the Foreign Ministry and were responsible for Norway’s Middle East policy. Both had positions which make it impossible to separate the private person from their public roles. There are extremely strict rules regarding what a public employee may receive in the way of gifts – particularly gifts from people or institutions that are closely related to matters which the employee is working on. In this connection it must be asked how the Foreign Ministry could be under the misapprehension that the Peres prize was a mere statuette, and not realize that it was also accompanied by a substantial sum of money. (Dagsavisen)