Norway expects victory in whaling battle (Aftenposten)

Norway believes that it has already won the battle over whaling. This is why the Government unexpectedly gave the go-ahead yesterday for resuming the export of whale products such as meat and blubber. This export activity will not be a major source of income for Norway for the time being. This year’s quotas will result in an export value of around NOK 50 million. Political circles are satisfied with the Government’s decision.

Whaling is an extreme provocation (Aftenposten)

"The rest of the world will see Norway’s new export of whale products as an extreme provocation. I am rather worried about what will happen," says Rasmus Hansson, Chief Executive Officer of WWF-Norway. "This is really giving us food for thought," says Frode Pleym, who is responsible for Greenpeace’s fisheries policy in the Nordic region.

Labour’s most popular politicians are not up for election (Vårt Land)

In the run-up to Labour’s most important contest for a long time, this autumn’s general election, the party’s campaigning process will lack some of its most familiar faces. A large number of Labour’s most prominent politicians are not willing to run for another term in the Storting, while others may lose their seats for other reasons. "Replacing people is a natural process, but of course it means that there will be some unfamiliar faces," says analyst Hanne Marthe Narud of the Institute for Political Science at the University of Oslo.

This is how you should use the oil revenues (Dagbladet)

In a remarkable letter to Minister of Finance Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen, the enormously wealthy shipping magnate Fred. Olsen recommends that Norway buy up and take over a number of major foreign enterprises. Mr. Olsen suggests that these acquisitions should be financed through oil revenues. His most important message is that by investing more money in specific areas today, Norway will be in a better position when the oil revenues stop pouring in.

Will gladly distribute oil revenues to the people (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Progress Party and its chairman, Carl I. Hagen, will be happy to give oil revenues to the people – as long as they are Norwegian nationals. The centrist parties are sceptical about distributing money to individuals, because they do not believe that this will make it easier to make long-term plans. In their view this would not curb the trend towards letting one generation "eat up" the entire petroleum fund.

Offshore activities improving (Dagsavisen)

Business at Norway’s five shipyards building offshore installations is showing signs of improvement after the poor showing of the past two years. After this year’s summer holidays, Norwegian shipyard workers who have been temporarily laid off will be able to roll up their sleeves again and get back to work. Seventy-seven per cent of those employed in the offshore industry believe that an improvement is in sight. According to figures supplied to Dagsavisen by Norway’s five offshore shipyards, they have a combined order backlog of NOK 10.5 billion.

Government is setting limits (Dagbladet)

In an attempt to forestall a Storting decision, the Government will within the next few days determine the boundaries of the zone where a resident permanent wolf population will be strictly protected. The zone will probably be considerably smaller than it was in the original plan. The matter will not be submitted to the Storting for approval since the plan is within the guidelines set out in the white paper on the management of large carnivores adopted by the Storting in 1997. However, a new white paper on the subject will probably be submitted to the Storting at around the same time, which will mean that the borders determined by the Government may not be in effect very long.

Worth Noting

• Everyone who is convicted of murder in Norway is released before the entire sentence has been served, despite the fact that the Ministry of Justice approved more stringent rules for release on probation one-and-a-half years ago. (NTB)
• Politicians with an immigrant background and religious leaders gathered yesterday evening for a meeting with high-level representatives of the Oslo Police. Erling Lae, Chief Commissioner of the Oslo City Government, says that he plans to establish a new council for crime prevention, which will include representatives of all the parties who participated in last night’s meeting. (Dagsavisen)
• Our neighbouring countries are enjoying a substantial increase in the numbers of tourists they have visiting. In Norway, however, the trend is going in the opposite direction. Of the tourists visiting our country, only six per cent say that they would bother to come back again. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Due to an ongoing printing press conflict, Aftenposten has suffered a loss of between seven and eight million kroner since Friday. The conflict has also caused problems for Verdens Gang. (Aftenposten)
• Gusts of wind far more powerful than hurricane winds smashed the windows of the air traffic control tower at Honningsvåg in northern Norway yesterday. The tower has stood firmly since it was built in 1977. Unusually strong winds paralyzed all traffic in the northern county of Finnmark. (Aftenposten)

Today’s Comment from Dagbladet:

Today it is ten years since King Olav died and King Harald took over the throne. In the course of these ten years, the Norwegian monarchy has changed a good deal, and is now more open and is closer to the public in general. But in connection with the engagement of the Crown Prince, the royal family has also experienced tremors that were unheard of in the days of King Harald’s father and grandfather. For the first time in modern history there is a public debate on whether the existence of the monarchy is justified. The royal family itself has actually welcomed a debate on this subject. This debate is not based on a negative assessment of the work accomplished by King Harald during the ten years of his reign. On the contrary, the consensus among both supporters and detractors of the monarchy is that we have a king and a royal family who perform their duties to everybody’s satisfaction. And more than merely satisfaction: there is a warmth between the King and his people that is a political factor in itself. On the King’s tenth anniversary we would like to count ourselves among those congratulating him. The core of the discussion surrounding the monarchy is in the contrast between what is inherited and what is political. And on this subject Dagbladet takes the same view today as when the referendum was held in 1905: the debate on the monarchy should be continued as part of a political process that should eventually lead to the formation of the Republic of Norway.