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Politics
| Norwegian American Foundation purchases Norway.com Web site |
| [Norwaynews] [25.11.2009, 10:17pm, Wed. GMT] |
| The Norwegian American Foundation (NAF) was established in 2001 for the purpose of promoting education, trade, culture, travel, and heritage between Norway and the over 5 million Americans of Norwegian heritage. During the past 10 years, the Norwegian American Foundation has grown to become the leading voice in the United States for news, events, and exchanges between the two countries, and is very well connected to the Friends of Norway Caucus on Capitol Hill. The Norwegian American Foundation’s Chairman is Dr. Loren Anderson, President of Pacific Lutheran University, with Consul Kim Nesselquist holding the position of CEO. |
 | | | | Norway's coalition government re-elected |
| [Norwaynews] [15.09.2009, 08:21pm, Tue. GMT] |
| Norway's ruling red/green (centre-left) coalition government under Labour's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was re-elected in Monday's general elections, winning 86 seats in Parliament (Stortinget), against 83 for the non-socialist opposition parties. It is the first time a Norwegian government has survived an election in 16 years. As the Prime Minister announced his victory at the main party rally in Oslo around midnight, his jubilant supporters chanted "Four more years!" - "Four more years!" in the background. |
| | | | Parliamentary elections begin in Norway |
| [Norwaynews] [13.09.2009, 07:31am, Sun. GMT] |
Voting began Sunday in a two-day parliamentary election in Norway, with 3.5 million voters set to decide whether to continue the government of Social Democrat Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his coalition with the Socialist Left and Liberal parties. The main challengers to the Stoltenberg-led coalition are the Progress Party of right wing populist Siv Jensen and the conservative party led by Erna Solberg. Election results are expected at the latest on Monday evening.
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| | | | People in Kyrgyzstan Still Feel Threatened – Head of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee |
| [Norwaynews] [02.09.2009, 07:29am, Wed. GMT] |
| I received a letter from the Kyrgyz State Security Service, in which they declined to give any explanation why I was denied entry. They said this is "standard procedure in all countries". This of course, is not true. Since then, the United Nations, Norwegian authorities, the European Union and the US State Department have all written to Kyrgyz authorities, asking that the ban be lifted. Unfortunately, none of them have received any kind of answer said Ivar Dale, head of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee in Central Asia. |
| | | | Norway pleased that Afghan election count is under way, calls for calm |
| [Norwaynews] [27.08.2009, 07:28am, Thu. GMT] |
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is pleased that vote-counting is now under way after the presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan. “The elections were held under very difficult circumstances,” said Mr Støre. “Now we must wait for the final results to find out who will be Afghanistan’s next president,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, joining with many others in urging candidates to remain calm, respect the work of the Electoral Complaints Commission, and not draw hasty conclusions. “It is now up to the independent Electoral Complaints Commission to evaluate claims of election fraud,” the Foreign Minister said.
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| | | | Stronger demands on documented identity in asylum cases in Norway |
| [Norwaynews] [09.06.2009, 10:21pm, Tue. GMT] |
| The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has received instructions to request stronger demands on documented identity in asylum cases. If an asylum seeker refuses to do what is practically possible to document his or her identity, then the authorities will, to a larger extent, deny or issue a limited permission. The fact that very few asylum seekers can identify themselves with a valid travel document is a major problem. Over 95 per cent lack such documents when they report to the police for registration. |
| | | | Støre pleased with Tromsø Declaration. |
| [Norwaynews] [30.04.2009, 06:05pm, Thu. GMT] |
On April 29 the eight Arctic Council Ministers ratified the Tromsø Declaration. The declaration is the guideline for the work in the Arctic Council the next two years. The Arctic Council met at ministerial level in Tromsø, Norway, chaired by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The Council was established in 1996, and comprises Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States of America, in addition to indigenous representatives. Støre was very satisfied with the new ratication and told the press that in the future politicians and scientist will talk about the “Tromsø-papers” as an important leap to reduce the global warming.
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| | | | Somali and Ethiopian Refugees to Norway. |
| [Norwaynews] [24.04.2009, 04:35pm, Fri. GMT] |
Droves of African families recently received asylum status from the Norwegian quasi-judicial Appeals Board (UNE), which handles appeals of rejections by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). If these families were not allowed to remain in Norway, their daughters risk circumcision—a brutal practice that can leave women crippled. Most of these African applicants come from Somalia and Ethiopia, while a few of them are from Nigeria, Sudan, and Mali. New data from Norway this year shows that 91 percent of Somalian applications have been approved and only seven have been rejected. Last year 84 percent of applicants were accepted into Norway.
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| | | | White Paper on Norwegian development policy was presented by Erik Solheim, in Oslo. |
| [Norwaynews] [17.02.2009, 06:36pm, Tue. GMT] |
White Paper on Norwegian development policy was presented by Minister of Development and the Environment, Erik Solheim, in Oslo. The title of the paper loosely translates as, “Climate, conflict and capital: Norwegian development policy in a new environment.” The document seeks to address the new challenges facing the world today such as climate change, conflict and capital. Minister Solheim underscored the fact that the White Paper was not about development aid, but rather about forces driving development in general. The paper addresses the important role of private investment, remittances, economic crises, etc. in addition to development aid, in bringing about development. |
| | | | Norwegian foreign minister to UN Security Council meeting. |
| [Norwaynews] [06.01.2009, 07:54pm, Tue. GMT] |
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store flew Tuesday to New York to attend a meeting of the UN Security Council on the crisis in Gaza. Store is currently chair of an international donors group for the Palestinians, known as Ad Hoc Liaison Committee. Oslo has joined calls for an end to the violence and urged Israel to halt its recent ground offensive in Gaza. Norway was also to review its holdings in companies that have operations in Israel and the Palestinian territories against the backdrop of the increased violence, Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said.
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| Norway's new gov't split equally between sexes |
| [Norwaynews] [20.10.2009, 03:25pm, Tue. GMT] |
| In a postelection reshuffle, Norway's center-left government has given women half of the Cabinet posts for the first time. The move comes a month after the majority coalition led by Labor won re-election in the oil-rich Nordic country. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that 10 posts in the new 20-seat Cabinet would go to women. Women held 8 positions in the previous 19-seat government. Norway prides itself on its gender equality. In January 2008, Stoltenberg's government passed a law requiring all private companies to have at least 40 percent women on their boards of directors. |
| | | | Norway's red-green coalition wins elections |
| [Norwaynews] [14.09.2009, 10:36pm, Mon. GMT] |
Norway's red-green coalition managed to buck recent political trends in the Scandinavian country and was returned to another four-year term in office, with more than half the votes counted late Monday. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's red-green coalition was on 87 seats, sufficient to win a majority in the 169-seat legislature, according to Statistics Norway's tally. The 50-year-old Stoltenberg formed his coalition in 2005 and managed to secure a new four-year term for his Labour Party and its junior partners, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party.
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| | | | Norway's PM stresses jobs ahead of tight vote |
| [Reuters] [12.09.2009, 08:02pm, Sat. GMT] |
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday keeping Norwegians in jobs was his top priority in the global downturn and urged voters to return his centre-left to power in Monday's parliamentary election. Opinion polls put Stoltenberg's centre-left coalition neck-and-neck with the centre-right opposition in a race that will determine if the oil-producing nation opens new Arctic regions for exploration and how it spends its oil windfall. A survey by Synovate showed the Labour-led government winning 89 seats in the 169-member parliament, while a poll by TNG Gallup showed late on Friday the opposition taking 89 seats.
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| | | | Fewer Norwegian citizenships granted |
| [Norwaynews] [27.08.2009, 02:29pm, Thu. GMT] |
A total of 10 300 persons became naturalized in 2008, almost 4 600 fewer than the year before. The largest group of foreign citizens who were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2008 (1 300 in total) were from Somalia, reports Statistic Norway. The number of naturalisations fell significantly from 2007 to 2008. A total of 4 600 fewer persons were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2008 than in 2007, which was the record year. Iraq and Somalia are the two countries that have been at the top for the last four years, but 2008 was the first time that Somalis were the largest group of new Norwegian citizens. Iraqis were the second largest group with nearly 1 100 naturalisations. |
| | | | Gro Brækken to head OLF from 2010 |
| [Norwaynews] [01.07.2009, 07:07pm, Wed. GMT] |
| The board of the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) has appointed Gro Brækken to succeed Per Terje Vold as chief executive with effect from 1 January 2010. She is currently secretary-general of Save the Children Norway. "We are very pleased that Ms Brækken has accepted the offer of this post," says Steinar Våge, chair of the OLF board. "She has had a distinguished career with both voluntary organisations and the business sector in Norway, and we look forward to benefiting from her broad experience." |
| | | | Political ads on television rejected in Norway |
| [Norwaynews] [08.06.2009, 02:36pm, Mon. GMT] |
| Stortinget - the parliament - has with a strong majority vote (61-34) upheld the ban on political ads on television in Norway. Politicians fear that polical ads on television will not benefit parties with limited financial resources. In order to give heed to the European human rights court decision 2008 to open the airwaves for all political parties, the Minister of Culture Trond Giske (Social dem.) instead has found a constructive compromise. The proposal also was supported by one opposition party (Christian Democrats). |
| | | | Norway’s passes EU services directive. |
| [Norwaynews] [24.04.2009, 05:37pm, Fri. GMT] |
| Norway’s parliament has passed the EU’s services directive despite two of the three parties in the coalition government voting against the new law that opens up for cross-border competition in the services industry. The oil-rich nation of about 4.8 million people has chosen to remain outside the European bloc but routinely adopts its directives and rules through the European Economic Agree agreement. Junior coalition members — the Socialist Left and the Center Party — oppose the EU and the directive. Labour is the dominant party in the coalition and got the law passed Thursday with opposition support. |
| | | | Norway drops hijab for police officers. |
| [Norwaynews] [20.02.2009, 03:25pm, Fri. GMT] |
Norway will not go ahead with plans to allow women police officers to wear the hijab - the Muslim headscarf - as part of their uniform, the justice minister said Friday. Knut Storberget and his ministry has come under fire after the recent proposal to change regulations for police uniforms to allow religious headwear to be used was announced. 'Today we have decided not to go ahead with the proposed changes,' Storberget told reporters.
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| | | | Norway condemn assassination of brave man who has paid the ultimate price. |
| [Norwaynews] [08.01.2009, 07:55pm, Thu. GMT] |
Norway condemns the assassination of Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunga, Chief Editor of Srilankan Sunday Leader, Norway Embassy Press Releases said. Norway strongly condemns the killing of Chief Editor of Srilankan Sunday Leader, Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunga, today. We extend our deep sympathy with Mr. Wickramatunga’s family and friends. Freedom of expression is an essential value in a democracy. Norway is concerned about the many cases of assault, harassment and intimidation of media workers and institutions in Sri Lanka.
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| | | | New hopes for 2009 - Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. |
| [Norwaynews] [02.01.2009, 01:26pm, Fri. GMT] |
In his speech to the nation on New Year's Day, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said we are allowed to bring new hope with us into the New Year, despite the financial crisis and the new fighting in the Middle East. He said there was no doubt that the financial crisis would also affect Norway: Half of what we produce in Norway we sell to other contries. When customers in other countries stop buying what we have to sell, it will affect furniture factories in Sykkylven, auto parts makers at Raufoss and producers of aluminum products at Karmoey. Workers will be laid off or lose their jobs.
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Special Interest
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Akershus
The world's larges tobacco company Phillip Morris International (PMI) is taking the Norwegian state to court. PMI wants the Norwegian ban on displaying tobacco products in stores lifted, Dagens Næringsliv reports. There is no scientific evidence that the ban has any health effect, says PMI communication director Anne Edwards to the newspaper. She points to Iceland, which introduced the ban against the display of tobacco in stores in 2001.
