Armed EU police could be stationed in
Norway (Aftenposten)
If the European Commission gets
its way we could see heavily armed EU police stationed at Norwegian
ports and airports in four or five years. The Commission wants to
create a joint European border police force to guard the EU’s outer
perimeter against illegal immigration, drug smuggling and
terrorism. The proposal has a direct impact on Norway which,
through the Schengen Agreement, has become part of the EU’s
passport-free zone in return for providing border controls into the
Schengen area. "This will also be a controversial proposal in other
countries, but it shows how concerned the EU is to combat
terrorism, organized crime and people trafficking," said State
Secretary Kim Traavik at the Foreign Ministry.
Illegal help from SAS
(Dagsavisen)
The problems have been piling up
since SAS’s management announced its decision in May last year to
buy Braathens, its only real competitor in the Norwegian domestic
market. According to professor of law Henning Jakhelln, if
Braathens’ planes keep flying with the help of SAS employees during
a strike of Braathens workers, it would amount to blacklegging.
Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade
Unions (LO) is also backing the Braathens workers in their bitter
inter-union battle. "We understand why the Braathens employees feel
cheated," she said.
Substance abusers face delay in care
reform plan (Aftenposten)
Last October Social Affairs
Minister Ingjerd Schou promised a quick and radical reorganization
of the care offered to substance abusers. The first step was to
have been the transfer of responsibility for providing specialist
healthcare to substance abusers from the County Councils to the
central government in January 2003 – a move which would have given
this group real patient rights in terms of treatment and follow-up.
But the Government has now admitted its original schedule was too
ambitious. The plan now is for the Government to take over
responsibility for this group from 1 January 2004.
Declined a seat on the Peres board
(Dabladet)
Former State Secretary at the
Foreign Ministry Jan Egeland declined the offer of a seat on the
international board of the Peres Peace Centre in Israel. Mr Egeland
felt it was not proper to involve himself in an institution which
was, at the same time, receiving large grants of money from Norway.
Thorbjørn Jagland and Terje Rød-Larsen on the other hand both
accepted Shimon Peres’s invitation.
Rail and airline passengers face
major strike (NTB)
Next week the Norwegian
transport sector could face severe disruption from a series of
major strikes. Workers in the postal service, NSB (the national
railway company) and the air transport sector are threatening to
take strike action. The toughest weeks of this spring’s round of
wage negotiations start on Monday. Most groups in the private
sector have reached an agreement without arbitration, with the
high-profile exception of the hotel workers who are currently on
strike. And while a negotiated settlement was achieved by central
government workers, only the Federation of Norwegian Professional
Associations has avoided going to arbitration in the local
government sector.
Farmers call for cut in wolverine
population (NTB)
Farmers’ organizations are
demanding a cut in the country’s wolverine population before they
let their sheep out into the mountains for the summer. The
Directorate for Nature Management is now considering a number of
applications to hunt wolverines and destroy wolverine nests – which
means killing wolverine mothers and their young. But so far
attempts to destroy wolverine nests have not been successful
anywhere.
Worth Noting
- The Children and Family Affairs Ministry is top of the class
when it comes to employing women in senior positions. 49 per cent
of its leaders are women. Worst is the Defence Ministry. Only 11
per cent of its managers are women. 27 per cent of the Foreign
Ministry’s senior staff are women, up from 21 per cent in 1997.
(Aftenposten)
- In the mid-nineties the UN reacted so strongly to Terje
Rød-Larsen’s high-spending ways that they cut off his funds.
Instead he received money from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. News
of this prompted an angry response from Progress Party chairmen
Carl I. Hagen. (Dagsavisen)
- Mona Juul worked at the Foreign Ministry and handled requests
for financial assistance from the Peres Centre for at least two
years before she and her husband Terje Rød-Larsen received NOK
900,000 from the Centre in the form of a peace prize. This goes
against what Ms Juul herself said publicly in statements over the
past few weeks. (Verdens Gang)
- As newly appointed Social Affairs Minister Ingjerd Schou
promised to come up with an action plan which would solve the
problem of poverty in Norway within four years. After seven months
in the job she is still struggling to define what poverty is.
(Dagbladet)
- 51 per cent of those questioned in a recent poll support
proposals for lower taxes for farmers. The Labour Party has secured
a majority in the Storting for the Government’s tax proposal.
(Nationen)
- According to the Directorate for Nature Management, DNA tests
carried out in Sweden have confirmed that the Scandinavian wolf
population does not stem from cross-bred animals or animals which
have been released into the countryside from elsewhere. The
Directorate makes this claim in a report on the genetic condition
of Norway’s large predators. (Nationen)
- In 1978 11,755 people notified the authorities of their
decision to leave the Church of Norway. Last year only 3,866 left
the Church, while more people are joining. (Vårt Land)
- Salmon importers in the EU have become hostages in the salmon
war. Many of them have stopped buying Norwegian salmon for fear of
punitive import duties. (Aftenposten)
Today’s comment from Aftenposten
King Harald and Queen Sonja
today conclude their state visit to Canada, a country which,
despite it being so far away, we have closer connections with than
most of us are aware. One thing is the discovery by Anne Stine and
Helge Ingstad of evidence of Viking settlements in Newfoundland.
Another is the Norwegian expedition led by Otto Sverdrup, which 100
years ago explored and mapped large parts of what is today northern
Canada. Sverdrup even annexed this region, though the Norwegian
government feel there was no need to follow up his actions.
Canadians are aware of what he accomplished, and are planning a
special celebration of his achievements this year – 100 years after
he and his crew returned to Norway in their polar exploration
vessel ‘Fram’. Fine words and fancy gestures have never been part
of our relationship with Canada. We approach each other with a
practical level-headedness which suits both peoples’ wishes and
mentality.
