Friday, May 15, 2026
Defence

Rubber tracks to Norwegian armoured combat support vehicle

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Soucy International Inc., Defense Division, has been awarded the $7.5M contract to manufacture and deliver Composite Rubber Track (CRT) systems for the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency’s (NDMA) Armoured Combat Support Vehicle (ACSV).

In May 2018, as part of the Norwegian Armed Forces logistic and support vehicle recapitalization program, Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) won the tender to manufacture and supply ACSV’s to the Norwegian Army. FFG proposed to base the ACSV around their current PMMC G5 vehicle.

The ACSV is a 26-tonne tracked platform with the capacity to transport freight goods containers weighing up to 6 tonnes. It has container mounts to accommodate both 6.5- and 10-feet freight containers and in conjunction with the increased durability and low maintenance attributes of CRT can enhance the militaries battlefield logistical reach. The reduced vibrations enabled by the integration of CRTalso aids in the protection of sensors and electronics located on other military equipment such as radars which may also be mounted the ACSV’s stable framed platform. Due to the ACSVs open and closed hull configurations, it can be adapted in the closed configurationto house a command centre or ambulance. (Casualty evacuation) The ACSV can be adapted to a wide range of operations including domestic disaster relief and international peace support missions.

About CRT Tracks

• Increased durability over conventional steel tracks.
• Reduced vibration (up to 70%), noise (up to 13dB), thermal signature, braking distance, vehicle weight (up to 50%) and fuel consumption (up to 30%).
• Reduced vehicle crew fatigue.
• Significant reduction in life cycle costs and virtually maintenance free.
• Elimination of damage to infrastructure.

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Svalbard

Svalbard’s Mysterious Disappearing Shipwrecks

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

When Øyvind Ødegård set out last June to scour the seafloor near Svalbard—a vast, ice-covered Norwegian archipelago halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole—he had a dream.

A marine archaeologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Ødegård has worked for decades to protect Norway’s underwater cultural heritage—the shipwrecks and other artifacts that lie, for most archaeologists, literally out of sight and out of mind. His dream was to discover, in these Arctic waters, wrecks that might rival those of the Franklin Expedition, found in Canada’s high Arctic in 2014 and 2016. Those ships, the HMS Erebus and HMSTerror, were so well preserved that after 170 years, divers found individual hairs entangled in combs.

The bitterly cold water in the Arctic Ocean was thought to keep shipwrecks safe—but that may not be the case. Photo by Zuri Swimmer/Alamy Stock Photo

Ødegård had reason to dream big: from the 1600s onward, thousands of European whaling vessels ventured to Svalbard to exploit its bowhead whale population, and at least 600 never left. Instead, they were entombed in crushing sea ice or sunk by rival fleets. Finding them could cast new light on an underexplored part of European history.

“Most European Arctic history from this period happened on ships, not land,” says Ødegård. “The only physical remains that can tell us a story about these lives will come from wrecks.”

Ødegård set off aboard the Arctic University of Norway’s (UiT) R/V Helmer Hanssen last summer, with the aim of finding Dutch ships sunk by the French in the 17th century. Using historical reports made to France’s King Louis XIV, Ødegård and his team pinpointed promising spots. But when they deployed underwater drones for a closer look, they not only failed to find Franklin-esque wrecks—they found nothing at all.

The absence suggested an awful possibility: the wrecks—which no one had attempted to find in the past—had been there, but had vanished. The suspected culprit? Shipworms, one of the world’s most voracious destroyers of underwater heritage.

Not a worm at all, shipworms are tunneling, tube-shaped mollusks that thrive on cellulose. A sizable infestation can destroy a sunken ship in just a few years, exposing to the elements the trove of historical treasures contained inside, from human remains to archaeological artifacts.

Shipworms have long been a recognized archaeological threat, but before 2016 no one realized they could endanger the abundant but unexplored wreckage sprawled across the Arctic seafloor, where it was assumed to be far too cold for them to thrive. That year, however, UiT marine biologist Jørgen Berge led an expedition (which also included Ødegård) to the water off Svalbard to investigate a Norwegian melbet whaler called the Figaro, the world’s northernmost-known wreck. The Figaro appeared in good shape. But during the expedition, the team also hauled up a seven-meter tree trunk riddled with live shipworms.

The idea that shipworms may be threatening Arctic wrecks was reinforced in 2019 when Ødegård’s team found boreholes in wood collected from Svalbard beaches. A closer inspection of the Figaro also turned up previously missed evidence of shipworm infestation.

Taken together, the findings suggest that underwater heritage in Svalbard—and perhaps across the world’s northern oceans—may not simply be lying in situ, cleanly preserved and waiting to be discovered. They also raise new questions about the role that ocean currents and climate change may be playing in bringing warm water masses into the Arctic and subarctic. Researchers aren’t sure whether the shipworms found in 2016 were a southern species that’s moved north, or an all-new species that thrives in colder waters—genetic sequencing is underway.

“There’s an imminent need to explore more widely,” says Berge. “If [wrecks] are already in the process of being eaten up, we may already have lost our chance to learn from them.”

Ødegård is now planning to collaborate with other researchers to get a better handle on the shipworm situation in the western Arctic. Matthew Ayre, a climate historian at the University of Calgary in Alberta, hopes to work with Ødegård—once the COVID-19 pandemic permits—to locate wrecks near Greenland, and assess the shipworm threat there.

“Shipworms are around Svalbard at the moment,” says Ayre, “but will they move elsewhere with warming water? This heritage is so remote that very little work has been done, so we really don’t know.”

Ayre’s work hasn’t typically focused on wrecks. He studies captains’ logbooks, which provide the most comprehensive and consistent descriptions available of 19th-century Arctic sea ice and weather. The data is used to create a more complete picture of the historical Arctic climate, and improve future climate modeling. But after finding the Nova Zembla, a Scottish whaling wreck, near Baffin Island, Nunavut, in 2018, he had his eyes opened anew to the importance of material artifacts.

“That has really diverted my work,” he says. “I look now not just at the climate stuff but also the whalers’ legacies on Baffin Island, and it’s really catalyzed conversations there about this history and the relationship between Inuit and whalers.”

Last June’s Helmer Hanssen voyage also included Maxime Geoffroy, a researcher in marine ecology at Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University. He and Ødegård intend to go fishing for shipworms in Geoffroy’s own backyard, off the coast of Labrador. The plan is to obtain logs of the same tree species used to build whaling ships, weigh them down with chains, and sink them 50 meters. After a year, they’ll be hauled up and examined.

Geoffroy explains that while the conditions off Labrador may be very different from those off Svalbard, this kind of pan-Arctic effort may be needed to complete a truer picture of the threat shipworms pose in colder waters.

For Ødegård, finding these material remains before it’s too late is critical to bringing to life a story more resonant today than ever.

“European whaling was one of the first human-induced ecological catastrophes,” he says. “The massive scale of harvesting, with so little contemplation of the effects, is a very important story to tell, and it’s much easier to make the history relevant to people when you can almost go down to the level of individual lives, look at specific questions, and put as much flesh on those bones as possible.”

But only, of course, if those bones are still there.

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Crimes

Border police finds 11 migrants in trucks

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Two groups with a total of 11 migrants from Afghanistan have been discovered by the authorities when they were trying to leave the country illegally, being hidden in two cargo trucks that were heading to Germany and Norway, according to Media.

Both trucks have been checked in the last 24 hours at the Nadlac II border crossing point.

According to a press release sent on Tuesday by the Arad Border Police, the first truck hiding migrants was driven by a 49-year-old Romanian. He was transporting, according to the documents accompanying the goods, electric cables on the Romania-Germany route.

“Following the specific risk analysis, the border police officers carried out a thorough control of the means of transport. They discovered thus that seven people were hidden inside the cargo truck, in the cargo compartment. During the preliminary checks, the border guards established that “there are four minors aged between 16 and 17, from Afghanistan, and three adults aged between 18 and 29,” read the release.

The second truck was driven by a 38-year-old Turkish citizen who was transporting textiles on the Bulgaria-Norway route. In the cargo compartment, border guards discovered four Afghan citizens, aged between 16 and 18.

All migrants are asylum seekers in Romania and said they intended to reach Western European countries. They are being investigated for attempting to cross the state border illegally, while the drivers are being investigated for migrant smuggling.

The number of migrants caught in the first ten months of the year trying to cross the border illegally to Hungary, through the Arad County, is 2.3 times higher than in the same period last year, the representatives of the Arad Border Police told AGERPRES on Monday.

From the beginning of the year until the end of October, 759 migrants were caught trying to cross the border illegally to Hungary, the vast majority, respectively 672, being caught at the Nadlac II border crossing point. Last year, 325 migrants were caught in the same period.

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Environment

Norwegian government to Supreme Court over Arctic oil

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Youth activists and environmentalists will face the Norwegian government in the Supreme Court over oil drilling in the Arctic. The climate court case, also known as The People vs. Arctic Oil, could outlaw new oil drilling in the Arctic and set a precedent for similar climate cases all over the world.

“Opening up the Arctic for oil drilling in the time of climate emergency is unacceptable, and the Norwegian government must be held accountable. We hope and believe that the Supreme Court will acknowledge the Norwegian State’s substantial impact on the climate crisis and judge the Arctic oil licenses invalid”, said Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway.

Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway sued the Norwegian government for opening up the Arctic for oil drilling in 2016. The organisations state that the new oil licences are in violation of the Norwegian Constitution, which establishes the right to a healthy environment and the duty of the government to safeguard this right for future generations.

The co-plaintiffs are backed by the interveners Grandparents’ Climate Campaign and Friends of the Earth Norway, and have been supported by legal submissions written by, among others, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.

One week prior to the hearing in the Supreme Court, a political scandal unfolded in Norway. Through the climate lawsuit it was revealed that the government had withheld a secret report from the Parliament showing that oil drilling could generate huge economic losses for Norway. The government already knew in 2012 that exploration might be unprofitable, but neither the taxpayers nor the Parliament were let in on the secret, therefore the Parliament approved the opening of new oil fields without key information.

Even though the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the State in January 2020, the judgement already then contained important victories for the organisations. The court ruled that the Constitution does grant a right to a healthy environment and that the scope of Norway’s responsibilities includes the environmental harm caused by emissions from Norwegian oil burned abroad.

Contrary to its otherwise green image, Norway is the seventh biggest exporter of climate-wrecking emissions on the planet, and the country has more active oil fields now than ever before.

“It is obvious that Norway has a responsibility not to produce more oil and gas than what the climate can take. To explore for more oil and gas is to torpedo future generations chances of growing up in a healthy climate”, said Therese Hugstmyr Woie, head of Young Friends of the Earth Norway.

The judgement is expected in December 2020 or January 2021. The exact date for the judgement will most likely be announced on the last day of the Supreme Court hearing, on 12 November.

* More information on the report withheld by the Norwegian government here

* Greenpeace International https://www.greenpeace.org/international/

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Politics

Prime Minister met head of European Commission

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Green transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic was the key topics at the meeting between Prime Minister Erna Solberg and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today.

European cooperation is essential to our efforts to address the major challenges we are facing, from how to encourage green transformation to how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, said PM Solberg.    

Norway is part of European cooperation through the EEA Agreement, the Schengen Agreement and a wide array of other agreements. The meeting provides an opportunity to discuss issues of importance to Norway.

Cooperation with the EU is vital to promoting and implementing the transition to a greener economy in Norway. We will be a partner in the European Green Deal, and we will work closely with the EU to follow up the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  

The EU has significantly strengthened cooperation in the area of health in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Cooperation with the EU plays an extremely important part in Norway’s national response to the pandemic, both in terms of the acquisition and distribution of vaccines, and in terms of the exchange of experience and mutual assistance,’ Ms Solberg said.      

– In a rapidly changing world, it is important that European countries work together and show solidarity for each other. It also means that we must stay true to our principles and defend our fundamental values, such as democracy and the rule of law, here in Europe as well. We discussed what Norway can do to support the Commission’s efforts in this area, said the Prime Minister. 

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Crimes

Norway opens cyber resilience centre

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Norway will open a maritime cyber resilience centre at the beginning of 2021, just as shipping needs to demonstrate cyber risk management within ship safety documentation.

Norwegian Shipowners’ Association will collaborate with Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual War Risks Insurance Association (DNK) to form the Norwegian Maritime Cyber Resilience Centre (Norma Cyber).

This will become operational from 1 January 2021, supporting operators of thousands of ships, offshore support vessels and drilling rigs.

This is the same date IMO’s requirements for cyber security within ship safety management systems comes into force. From January 2021, vessel operators will be obliged to demonstrate cyber risk management documentation to port state control officials.

Norma Cyber will support these vessel operators, providing a range of cyber-security services to members of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and DNK.

It will have an advanced operating room and offices in the Shipowners’ Association building in Oslo, staffed with experts in cyber security and vessel systems.

They will co-operate with the existing safety and emergency response community in DNK and the Shipping Association to support 420 Norwegian shipping companies that operate more than 3,400 ships and offshore drilling and support rigs.

Norwegian Shipowners’ Association chief executive Harald Solberg said Norma Cyber will be the first of its kind in the world. “The capacity we are now building is both innovative and important,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring that our industry continues its innovation efforts where digitalisation is essential for sustainable development,” Mr Solberg explained.

“But, on the other hand, we must address the security aspects of new technology with the necessary expertise and quality. We do our best by pooling our resources in a joint effort against cyber threats,” he said.

DNK has dealt with several cyber incidents in maritime. As a result, it has stepped up to meet the cyber threat with even greater force, said DNK chief executive Svein Ringbakken.

“We have seen several examples of cyber attacks both nationally and internationally, and the shipping industry is also heavily exposed to risk,” he said.

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Norwegian Aid

Central Vietnam province pledged over $10 Mln

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Two international organizations have committed $10.6 million to clear explosives and mines in Quang Binh Province, a former Vietnam War battleground.

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), a Norway-based organization working to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts, provided $5.6 million for Quang Binh to carry out two landmine clearance projects.

The first project, costing $1.6 million, aims to implement a database information system for mine clearance and analysis at provincial level.

The remaining $4 million will be spent to survey traces of wartime cluster bombs across Quang Binh Province to ensure safe clearance procedures.

NPA started providing mine clearance support in Quang Tri, a war-ravaged province also in central Vietnam, during 2008 and has helped clear 70,000 tons of unexploded ordnance.

PeaceTrees Vietnam, an NGO based in the U.S. that works to clear leftover explosives, donated $5 million toward cleaning up bombs, mines and other ordnances to reduce the risk of casualties and support local communities affected by the war.

Authorities in Quang Binh on Thursday said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved all three projects, to complete by May 2025.

Quang Binh had suffered severe bombing by U.S. aircraft and warships during the Vietnam War (1954-1975).

According to statistics by the Ministry of National Defense’s Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, nearly 225,000 ha of land across Quang Binh was contaminated by unexploded ordnances (UXO). Landmine or UXO accidents have claimed more than 2,930 lives in the province.

Vietnam is one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world when it comes to explosives. Between 1945 and 1975, during two wars with French and American invaders, more than 15 million tons of explosives were dropped on Vietnam; four times more than the amount unleashed during World War II, according to the Vietnam National Mine Action Center.

With support from the international community, Vietnam is clearing an average 40,000-50,000 ha per year, though it may still take up to 100 years to rid the country of this deadly legacy.

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Diplomatic relations

Prime Minister Erna Solberg congratulates Joe Biden

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

‘On behalf of the Norwegian Government, I would like to congratulate Vice-President Joe Biden on his election victory. The US is Norway’s most important ally and we work closely together in many areas. I look forward to developing the cooperation with the US further under Mr Biden’s leadership,’ said Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

The US election has been a very close race. The election campaign leading up to it was difficult, and was made more so by the pandemic.

‘The world needs the leadership of the US to help solve the major global challenges it is facing. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration with the Biden administration, in the UN Security Council and in the international efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and mitigate climate change, among other things. We are glad to note that Kamala Harris becomes the first female Vice President of the United States.

‘The record voter turnout is a positive affirmation of democracy. Now it is important for the presidential candidates to lead by example in the process of uniting and reconciling a divided society. Acknowledging defeat in the election is an important step in that process,’ said Ms Solberg.  

The Norwegian Government’s primary aim is to safeguard Norway’s interests. The US is important for Norwegian security, our economy, and for Norwegian jobs. 

‘We have maintained close cooperation with the US throughout different presidencies and administrations and successive Norwegian governments. We look forward to establishing a dialogue with the new administration, and to continuing to further develop and strengthen our longstanding tradition of excellent transatlantic cooperation,’ said Ms Solberg.  

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Farming

Norwegian salmon exports hit record level

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Norway exported 120,000 tonnes of salmon during October. Converted into whole fish, the volume was 138,674 tonnes which is the highest export volume yet for a single month.

Low prices meant the value at NOK 6.5 billion (£527 million) fell by NOK 124 million (£10.1m), down two per cent compared with October last year. The export price per kg was NOK 48.57 (£3.96), six per cent lower than the same month last year.

Norwegian Seafood Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl said the Asian and Israeli markets suffered the most from reduced volumes, the latter affected by increased competition from Chile.

Sales were also affected by continuing reduced demand from the restaurant sector. So far this year, Norway has exported 920,000 tonnes of salmon worth NOK 58.3 billion (£4.75 billion), the same volume as a year ago, while the value fell by NOK 522 million (£42.6 million) or just under one per cent.

Farmed trout exports rose again last month to 7,100 tonnes, up by six per cent in volume. The value at NOK 371 million (£30 million) is running at the same level. Belarus, Japan and Ukraine remain the largest markets for Norwegian trout.

So far this year, 60,000 tonnes of trout worth NOK 3.2 billion (£260 million) were sold abroad. This represents an increase in volume of 27 per cent, while the value increased by NOK 275 million (£22.43 million), or nine per cent.

The Seafood Council said that despite a challenging month overall exports remain at a high level.

The total, including white fish such as cod and haddock and pelagics like herring and mackerel totalled NOK 10.4 billion (£852 million), down five per cent on a year ago. Nevertheless, the figure is the third highest value yet for a single month.

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Politics

OSCE report confirms serious human rights violations in Belarus

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

“Massive” rights abuses and torture in Belarus have been condemned by an election-monitoring organisation with calls for a rerun of the country’s August presidential polls in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory.

A report looking into the election and subsequent crackdown by authorities, published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday, said human rights abuses “were found to be massive and systematic and proven beyond doubt”.

The United States Mission to the OSCE has been talking to Belarus all year about trying to do a joint ministerial decision and a joint program on trafficking in persons. We think that this is a way to really help people who are victims in Europe of human trafficking. And Belarus and the United States have been talking about this for a long time, and there’s no reason why we can’t find ways to work together with a country without tolerating the horrible misbehavior that is going on. Let’s clean up the misbehaviour, do constructive things, and then work together for a better Europe and Asia said Ambassador James Gilmore III U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Below is a full rush transcript of the press conference by Ambassador James “Jim” Gilmore III U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) And George Kent Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

Ambassador Gilmore:  I am the United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  As the listeners on the line know, that organization is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and I am speaking to you today from Vienna, Austria.  It’s now 3:00 p.m. Vienna time.  I’m joined on the call by George Kent, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and we’re looking forward to an opportunity to answer your questions and give you a sense of what has happened in this important, news-worthy event.

On September 17 of this year, of last year, the United States joined 16 other states of the OSCE in invoking the Moscow Mechanism.  This is a move that has precedence within the rules of the OSCE.  It gives the member-states an opportunity to invoke an independent investigation.  This happened, of course, because of the reports of the terrible abuses and the election violations and the fraudulent election which took place in Belarus, and then the substantial human rights violations that have occurred after that.  So this is invoking an independent investigator to look into the serious allegations of human rights abuses in Belarus.  

The mandate provided was a pretty substantial mandate.  It reflected the scope and severity of the human rights violations.  Yesterday, on November the 5th, the report was made public, and you can find that on the OSCE webpage, osce.org.  It’s an extensive and thorough investigation of what happened in Belarus and what is going on right now, and it’s perfectly clear from the findings of the Moscow Mechanism report that everybody had a right to be concerned.

The report from the Mechanism rapporteur is an exceptionally well-documented report.  It’s – the independent investigator, he was denied the ability to go to Belarus but he did have plenty of information and witnesses and people that he could speak to about the reality of what happens.  And the report finds that on August 9th, the presidential elections in Belarus were, quote, “neither free nor fair” and that the Belarus authorities have engaged in sustained and systematic violations and abuses of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Belarusian people.

Now, the report is pretty detailed and it’s frankly very shocking that this kind of behavior would happen in a country on the European continent in the 21st century.  And these abuses are – have credible reports of torture, arbitrary detention on a mass scale, expansive restrictions on the rights of peaceful assembly and freedoms of expression and association.  In fact, the report is very detailed about the threats against people, women being threatened with rape, threatened – the family members being threatened that their children would be taken away, physical abuse, attacks on people, people putting – throwing people into prison in inhumane conditions, all for the purpose of trying to discourage the development of legitimate democracy in Belarus at this point.

The U.S. is going to continue to work with our European partners and keep a spotlight on this, on the ongoing human rights abuses in Belarus.  Now, just a few hours ago, I joined several European OSCE ambassadors and met with the Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.  She is here in Vienna and met with several countries that are very prominent in the invoking of the Moscow Mechanism.  

Now, Sviatlana provided a firsthand account of the abuses that people are suffering.  The United States is going to continue to support the Belarusian people as they press for their voices to be heard and for their rights to be respected, including their demands for free and fair elections, which is fundamental on the European and Eurasian continent in the 21st century.  Free and fair elections under international observation and the release of all political prisoners, stealing away and abducting political prisoners without charge and without a legitimate, real law to support it, is an act of domestic terrorism which is intended to try to clamp down on the emerging democracy in a place like Belarus.

DAS Kent:  Thank you, Ambassador.  And since this is a week of elections, I can also say, Governor, having proudly voted for Governor Gilmore back when he ran for my governor of my state of Virginia.

Our policy towards Belarus – to sort of put the context of what Ambassador Gilmore just shared related to the Moscow Mechanism report and the findings therein, the U.S. policy towards Belarus is to support a sovereign, independent, prosperous, and democratic country, and that hasn’t changed.  We believe that the Belarusian people deserve the right that is guaranteed to them in their own constitution, the founding principles of the OSCE, the Helsinki Final Act, and the UN Charter: to choose their leaders in a free and fair election, subject to independent observation.

The United States supports the aspirations of the Belarusian people and the principles that are contained within the Helsinki Final Act, and that includes – and our programs and policies towards Belarus are based on that.  That would include a free and independent media; support and assistance to Belarusians who have been forced to flee abroad to escape the persecution that Ambassador Gilmore and the Moscow Mechanism report detailed; as well as the development of an independent and thriving society.

When there are abuses, such as the ones that the report details, the U.S. works with partner and allied countries to hold those who violate fundamental human rights and undermine the integrity of elections to account, and that includes by sanctioning those individuals.  And the U.S. as well as other countries have added a series of names to sanctions to try to show that we take those founding principles seriously.

At the same time, we continue to call for dialogue between Belarusians, and this also a recommendation in the report, but this has been our policy from the very beginning.  Ultimately, while we’re all concerned about what happens in Belarus, the fate of Belarus should be determined by Belarusians, not by outsiders.  And as U.S. officials have said repeatedly over the last several months, Belarus is for Belarusians to decide.  This is not an issue between East and West.  It’s not an area of competition between the United States and Russia.  This is for Belarusians to decide.  We believe that the OSCE has a role to play in fostering and facilitating a dialogue, but really, that needs to be a dialogue between Belarusians.

Question:  First is to Deputy Assistant Secretary Kent.  I remember that last year it was a very well serious effort to establish better relations with Belarus for a year but for at least two and a half years, and you were with Mr. Kravchenko at the same table.  So do you think that the U.S., USA still will send an ambassador to Belarus or this process will be halted for some time?

There are a great scale of human rights abuses, and some people in human rights organizations say that Europe and the United States, not enough sanctioning Lukashenko for that.  Do you expect any new sanctions towards the regime? 

DAS Kent:  President Trump nominated a career diplomat, Julie Fisher, a friend and colleague, to be our first ambassador in Belarus since 2008, when Lukashenko sent our ambassador home and reduced the size of our mission.  Julie Fisher received a positive vote out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but under our system, there has to be a full vote of the U.S. Senate and that final conformation vote has not yet been scheduled.  

So the – we are still waiting and hoping that the Senate will confirm the nomination of Julie Fisher, but at this point we’re uncertain about the timing and so any discussion of what would happen after, if we have a confirmed ambassador, at this point is premature.  But we do believe that is important to continue to strengthen our relations, even when there are difficult times such as these in the domestic situation in Belarus.  But there has been no final decision because until we have a decision of the U.S. Senate, there’s no decision to make.  

Ambassador Gilmore:  Well, thank you very much for coming on the line and issuing your question.  I want to emphasize that this is a major piece of news.  This is the OSCE, 17 countries, but really, the OSCE writ large has sanctioned the Moscow Mechanism approach.  It’s a way of conducting an independent investigation and reporting back to the member-countries of which, as we know, there are 57 in the OSCE.  The fact that they have invoked this, at this point, is big news.  The fact that the report says what it says is big news.  The fact that we would even do it is big news because there is a body of thought, particularly led by Russia and some other countries, that say, well, this is all an internal affair and it’s nobody’s business except the country – within the country itself.

This Moscow Mechanism stands for the principle that honest elections, free and fair elections, and not having abusing individual citizens, is a concern for all people in the civilized world.  And that is what the real news is.

Now, I don’t know if there’s going to be new sanctions or not.  That’s going to be a decision that’s going to be made by the administration, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, and other organizations as to whether or not there will be sanctions.  But the main thing for the Moscow Mechanism is not to produce a sanction; it is, in fact, to produce the truth and to establish the principle of what’s right and what’s wrong and whether or not torturing people and arresting people and abusing people is something that can just simply be continued to be carried on under cover of darkness on the European continent.  The Moscow Mechanism casts a light on this behavior, and then asks the conscience of the peoples of all these member-states to the OSCE as to whether this is really acceptable or not.  That is the purpose of it, but you have to first establish the facts and that is what the Moscow Mechanism has done.

One more small point that I’ll make.  Actually, the United States Mission to the OSCE has been talking to Belarus all year about trying to do a joint ministerial decision and a joint program on trafficking in persons.  We think that this is a way to really help people who are victims in Europe of human trafficking.  And Belarus and the United States have been talking about this for a long time, and there’s no reason why we can’t find ways to work together with a country without tolerating the horrible misbehavior that is going on.  Let’s clean up the misbehavior, do constructive things, and then work together for a better Europe and Asia.

Question:  If my memory doesn’t fail, that it’s very important for the United States to have a representative in Minsk addressing the issue of sending Ambassador Fisher to Minsk.  I just want to be clear.  Are you saying that the decision is not – has not been made yet as to whether you’re going to send her there or not?  if I may, is the Trump administration reconsidering its whole policy towards Belarus now in light of what’s been going on? 

DAS Kent:  As I said, and I’ll repeat my first sentence at the top, U.S. policy towards Belarus remains unchanged.  We support a sovereign, independent, prosperous, democratic country, and that has been the basis for our policy for the last several years and as we move towards having a more normal relationship with a full mission led by an ambassador.  

In our system, the Article I branch of our government, the Congress, takes its prerogatives very seriously.  And Article II branch of government officials – and Ambassador Gilmore and I are part of the Executive – can never presume or make pronouncements that would impinge on the rights of our Congress to make its decisions.  So that is why I stated my answer previously the way I did.  We cannot presume the Senate will vote in favor.  We hope that they will confirm Julie Fisher as the ambassador, but until they do, any comment would be speculative and inappropriate.  

So we look forward to the Senate confirming her and at that point, then we will move forward with our deliberations.

Ambassador Gilmore:  You’re a representative of TASS, which is a Russian news agency.  You speak directly to the Russian people.  My question to TASS is, will the Russian people read the Moscow Mechanism?  Will they understand what has occurred in Belarus?  And if they do, is that something that they wish to endorse?  And that is a question that I think remains outstanding that TASS, frankly, can help answer.

Question:  Who does the U.S. currently consider to be the legitimate leader of Belarus?  And secondly, the OSCE report calls on the U.S. rather, the international community to provide support to those who have had to flee Belarus.  How does the U.S. specifically intend to support these people?

DAS Kent:  In terms of how we support Belarusians who are forced to flee the country, there are a number of mechanisms and organizations that help people who flee countries that are seeking to unjustly put them in jail.  And so the – I’m not going to go through the – it’s a variety of organizations, but the U.S. has well-established ways of supporting activists who are forced out of their countries.  And so we will boost those efforts and programs to help them relocate and get restarted.

And in terms of legitimacy, I think it’s fair to say that we do not consider the election process on August 9th to have been free or fair.  The falsified results that were announced several days later cannot convey legitimacy on anyone, and therefore it is difficult for us to consider anyone claiming victory out of those August 9th processes to be legitimately newly elected as leader of the country.

Ambassador Gilmore:  Most everybody that has fled Belarus has fled to other neighboring countries in the European area that are granting them asylum or granting them safe shelter.  If these people were still in Belarus, they’d be arrested.  They would be tortured.  They would be abused.  I made a point in my statement the other day regarding another leader, Maria Kasnakova, Kolesnikova, who actually was arrested by masked people, thrown into an unmarked car, taken to the border with Ukraine, and attempted to be literally physically thrown out of the country.  She refused to do it, destroyed her passport, and since has disappeared.  Disappeared.  And we’ve called upon her to be released, all political prisoners.

So, it is not so much the U.S., although George is right: We are certainly in sympathy with free and fair elections and democracy.  But at the end of the day, we are casting a light upon these abuses in the hope that all of the conscience of Europeans will rally to the right thing.

Question:  The EU Council today approved personal sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko.  Will such sanctions be imposed by the United States? 

DAS Kent:  The U.S. actually imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko in 2006, after a previous round of elections in which there was election falsification and violence.  So we welcome the EU announcement today.  The U.S. has had Alexander Lukashenko sanctions for election fraud and violence for the last 14 years.

Question:  Do you see the possibility of Russian intervention in Belarus like the Russian interventions in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014?

Ambassador Gilmore:  You want to start, George?

DAS Kent:  This was a subject of discussion between Deputy Secretary Biegun and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov when we visited in August, and certainly, we warned our Russian diplomatic colleagues that there would be consequences were Russia to intervene with troops, that this really was an issue for Belarusians to decide.  And I think that’s the appropriate approach: to warn of consequences if certain actions are taken.  There certainly has been no move in the last three months for Russia to move any troops in.  Russia did move its media, and one might say propaganda personnel, from Russia Today/RT into Belarus to take over the state broadcasting service after individuals who worked there were fired.  But to date, there has been no movement by Russian troops to intervene in the way as the questioner mentioned they did in Georgia in 2008 and they did in Ukraine in 2014.

Question:  I would have a more specific question to Ambassador Gilmore about a potential follow-up within the OSCE framework.  The report contains several recommendations to OSCE participating states and the international community, and I was wondering if there is any chance that any of these recommendations may be taken up and maybe there will be some concrete follow-up within the context of the OSCE given that there is also a ministerial council coming up in December ?

Ambassador Gilmore:  The Moscow Mechanism has placed on the record now what has happened.  It is continuing to cast a spotlight on the human rights abuses, on the dictatorial behavior, the improper behavior that has gone on.  The OSCE now has to absorb the Moscow Mechanism.  We just had a very major conference on it at the Permanent Council just yesterday.  So now I think that the member-states will need to determine what is the next step that needs to be followed in order to reassert the legitimacy of the way that we’re supposed to be doing business under the Helsinki Accords and the Final Act.

The question – to my way of thinking, Stephanie, the big – the big question is: What kind of future are we going to have in Europe?  Is it going to be a Europe where there’s really no real democracy and there’s really no real elections, and that control of a country will be done through its security forces or its army?  Or are we going to live, as we have lived now since 1976, under the Helsinki Accords and the Final Act, which establishes that people have the right not to be cruelly treated, to be abused; the people have the right to a legitimate democracy.  That, I think, is the real question that the Moscow Mechanism addresses based upon the behavior in Belarus.  And I think maybe there is still time for all the countries to state what’s right and wrong and to speak up on behalf of people everywhere in Europe.  

This is not a matter, as George Kent said, between the United States and Russia.  No outside country is doing this.  The people of Belarus themselves are engaged in this discussion right now.  And while we support democratic principles and the principles of the Helsinki Accords, it’s the people of Belarus that will have to make the change, if there is one to be made.

Ambassador Gilmore:  The only closing words is to say that this is a very significant development.  The OSCE is an organization that contains all of these countries, including Belarus or Russia, all of these countries, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, all the countries in the western part of Europe, all of the Eastern European countries.  Everything is in the OSCE, and it’s all based upon an agreement of all the parties that they will sign up to the Final Act of the Helsinki Accords and live by those commitments. 

The question that we now face in Belarus is whether or not Belarus is going to do what they said they would do, and that is live by the legitimate principles of democracy under the Helsinki Accords and the Final Act.  That’s their obligation, and the OSCE now has taken steps through the Moscow Mechanism to assert that obligation.  But we now still have to watch this play out, and it really has to be a decision made within the people – by the people of Belarus.  

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Oil & Gas

Norwegian ships to transport LNG from US to Poland

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Two new LNG tankers, chartered from the Norwegian firm Knutsen OAS Shipping, will transport liquefied natural gas contracted by Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) from the US to Poland.

PGNiG announced on Tuesday that the company had settled a tender for chartering two LNG tankers from Knutsen. Both of the ships, which will begin service in 2023, have a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres, and will be serviced by the Norwegian company.

Œwinoujœcie, 26.07.2019. Pierwszy transport amerykañskiego gazu skroplonego (LNG), 26 bm. w Œwinoujœciu. Transport odbywa siê w ramach wieloletniego kontraktu z koncernem Cheniere Energy. (aldg) PAP/Marcin Bielecki

The Polish company also reported that the two ships would enter service at the same time a new Calcasieu Pass gas terminal, being built by the American company Venture Global LNG, becomes operational. PGNiG has a long-term contract with the US firm.

Under the agreement, signed with Knutsen, both LNG ships will be chartered for a period of 10 years, with an option for an extension of the deal.

PGNiG has contracts for 9.3 billion cubic metres of US LNG.

Knutsen is the world’s second largest tanker operator and one of the leading LNG tanker operators.

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Asia and Norway

Norwegian arrested on child porn charges

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

An elderly Norwegian was arrested yesterday at his Pattaya residence for downloading child pornography.

City cops along with representatives from the Norwegian embassy arrested 87-year-old Hakon Stien after the authorities said he was detected mass-downloading child porn from websites including Bittorrent at his computer’s IP address. 

A mobile phone, computer and external hard disk along with flash drives and SD cards were seized as evidence.

Stien was charged with possession of child pornography. The maximum penalty is five years in jail and a THB100,000 fine.

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Defence

NASAMS missile system handed over to Lithuanian Armed Forces

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Lithuania has published a news on the official website of the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announcing the procurement of additional NASAMS (National/Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) ground-based medium-range air defense system combat and inert missiles from the Norwegian Ministry of Defense.


Official delivery of NASAMS medium-range air defense missile system to Lithuanian Armed Forces. (Picture source Lithuania MoD)

According to the contract signed by the Ministry of National Defense and Norway’s Kongsberg NASAMS manufacturer on 26 October 2017, the system procured by Lithuania is new, except for launchers that are pre-used by the Norwegian Armed Forces and currently upgraded. The systems procured from Norway use U.S.-made AMRAAM aircraft defense missiles capable of destroying aircraft and missiles of an adversary several tens of kilometers away.

The NASAMS S is the world’s first operational Network Centric Medium Range Air Defence System. A standard NASAMS unit has a modular design comprising a command post, an active 3D radar AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel, a passive electro-optic and infra-red sensor and a number of missile canister launchers with AMRAAM missiles. Normally, four NASAMS units are netted in a battalion network.

The NASAMS is in operational use in Norway, Spain, USA, the Netherlands, Finland, and one undisclosed customer, and in production for Oman. In addition Poland, Greece, Sweden and Turkey operate the KONGSBERG command and control solution for various weapon systems.

The NASAMS AIM-120 AMRAAM missile is able to destroy aerial threats such as cruise missiles, fighter aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The system is able to engage simultaneously up to 72 targets with a maximum range of 40 km.

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Asia and Norway

India can be the next Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Volvo Car’s country head sees huge growth potential for electric luxury cars

Swedish luxury brand Volvo Car feels that the business case for electric luxury cars in India is better than that for internal combustion engine luxury cars. Given the high taxes and import tariffs which have constrained volume growth in the luxury ICE segment, it is betting big on EVs in India.

It expects the EV segment to be a volume driver for the country, a top company official said.

The current high tax structure will continue to hamper volume growth in the luxury ICE car segment which, coupled with the favourable government policies on EVs, is influencing Volvo Car India to invest heavily in EVs, Charles Frump, Managing Director, Volvo Car India, told BusinessLine. 

While a luxury ICE car attracts a GST of around 50 per cent, the GST for electric cars is just 5 per cent. 

Globally, Volvo Car plans to have half of its car volumes to be fully electric by 2025. “In India, our plan is the same goal or maybe even more,” said Frump. Volvo Car India will be launching its first fully electric car, Volvo XC40 Recharge, in the second half of 2021. 

Emulating Norway

“With the current tax structure, volumes are not going to be significant for any ICE luxury car (company). But, the opportunity is very much there for EVs. As the percentage of EVs grows, I see our opportunity growing a lot,” Frump said. 

On the importance of the Indian market for the company, he said: “I would say, at the moment, because the luxury business for Volvo and all luxury car companies is so small — 1 per cent in India of the total cars versus 10-40 per cent of all cars in other markets — to be honest, it hasn’t been a very big market for Volvo. But, we have seen what has happened in Norway. Electric cars have taken off in Norway and that has been huge for us as at Volvo. For Volvo, perhaps, India can be the next Norway.”

Norway’s EV story is famous. As per reports, almost 60 per cent of the new cars sold in the country in September were electric, and this goes up to 89 per cent when hybrids are included. There are far more EVs on Norwegian roads as a proportion of total vehicles than anywhere else in the world, according to a Forbes article dated June 2019. 

Norway’s goal is for all new cars sold in the country after 2025 to be electric.

Luxury advantage

“Luxury cars will lead when it comes to EVs,” said Frump. When asked about further EV launches, he said that there would be more, given that the current government policies on EVs — factors like the lower GST, road tax and import duties — remain in place. 

“I always ask the government officials to just keep the policy (the way it is) because the policy is good, (and) because I’ve built my entire forward EV strategy based on the very good policy that India has in line with their vision to be fully electrified,” said Frump.

Since EVs are currently more expensive than ICE cars, luxury car customers are more likely to purchase electric cars, said Frump, adding that the barriers in the adoption of EVs are fewer for luxury customers. 

“For example, all my customers own multiple cars. So, if there’s some worry about range anxiety, and they are going to go a really long way, they will take their other car. The majority of luxury customers can afford to have their own charging point at their house and at work. So, for luxury customers, some of the barriers are lower than for non-luxury customers.”

While this has been a “very tough” year for the luxury car business, Frump said that the company is extremely optimistic about 2021 and expects growth also to happen then. Safety is also going to be one of the primary focus areas for the company, he added.

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Asia and Norway

Grameenphone employees protest in Bangladesh

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Employees of mobile operator Grameenphone today formed a human chain in front of its headquarters in Bashundhara area, protesting the termination of Mia Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman Masud, general secretary of GP Employees’ Union.

A press release issued by GP Employees Union reads that Mia Masud was terminated at 5pm on 27 October under Section 26 of the Labour Act-2006.

The statement alleged that the telecommunications company planned to conduct a massive layoff by sending workers in-home office. And Mia Masud was sacked because he tried to stop the layoff plan by sending letters to the government officials.

Acting President of the employees union Fazlul Haque, its Communications Secretary Ziaur Rahman, newly dismissed general secretary Mia Mohammad Masud and other GP employees were present at the human chain, which started at 9 am Wednesday.

“We will go to the concerned government offices including Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) today and submit a letter with our logical demands,” said Ziaur Rahman.

Mia Masood was a senior specialist in Business Governance and Internal Compliance in GP’s Business Division.

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Asia and Norway

73rd Remembrance Day of Pakistan’s brutal invasion of Jammu & Kashmir

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

73rd Remembrance Day of Pakistan`s brutal invasion of Jammu & Kashmir on 22 October 1947 and to observe this day as “Black Day”.

A webinar was organized by Indian Community in Oslo, Norway on 25 October 2020 from 1400hrs. to mark the 73rd Remembrance Day of Pakistan`s brutal invasion of Jammu & Kashmir on 22 October 1947 and to observe this day as “Black Day”.

During the webinar people from Indian community expressed their view on the subject.  They accepted that this part of the history was removed in a planned way and not many people are aware of this tragic incident.  

One of the speakers explained in details about the background of the incident.  He said that – Once the US President Mr.Roovelt quotes “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” This is an opportunity to recap the history of the great princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. Before our independence, the British Crown made Standstill agreement to protect the interests of princely states. Our neighbouring Pakistan had entered into a Standstill Agreement with the Maharaja of Kashmir on August 12, 1947. 

At the beginning of September 1947, Major General Akbar Khan was asked by leaders of the Muslim League to prepare a plan to take over Kashmir. Then operation Gulmag has started with inflating tribal into Kashmir with the complete support of the neighbouring army. The entire operation was described by Major General Akbar Khan in his book “Raiders in Kashmir“. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y71xfH_12sw

On October 22, 1947, Pakistan unilaterally broke the Agreement and launched an invasion to forcibly capture Jammu and Kashmir using tribal raiders. In the process, many people were killed and women were raped. For the past 70 years, the refugees of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir marked this as a black day in Kashmiri history and pay their respects to the people who have sacrificed their lives. For the past couple of years, the untold story is coming into mainstream media. 

Even the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), a think-tank, has said the intervening night of October 21-22, 1947, was the darkest day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. On October 26 (1947), the Pakistani forces captured Baramula where only 3,000 survived out of 14,000. The troops were now only 35 miles from Srinagar. 

Then Maharaja (Hari Singh) was shaken and asked for help. Then Governor-General Mountbatten advised then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to get all the legal requirements done before sending the troops to Jammu and Kashmir. With that incident, India has rescued ¾ of Jammu & Kashmir from Tribal raids. On the other side, Pakistan marked October 27th as a black day for Jammu & Kashmir. We must not forget the sacrifices made by the people of Kashmir in the fight against the tribal groups.

During the webinar it was decided to continue the observance of 22nd October as BLACK DAY every year by the Indian community that too in large scale as this year it was not possible due to covid19 pandemic. During the webinar two videos were also played.  

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Media Freedom

Ukraine’s MFA calls for Russia’s responsibility for cyberattack on Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for Russia to be held accountable for a cyberattack on the Norwegian parliament. This was stated by the official on his Twitter page.

“Russia must be held accountable … Euro-Atlantic solidarity and mutual support are key to countering the challenges of hybrid warfare,” Kuleba wrote.

Related:  Norwegian MFA accuses Russia of stealing data in hacker attack on parliament.

He also added that Ukraine was ready to strengthen cooperation with Norway and other partners in order to counter cyberthreats.

As we reported earlier, Foreign Ministry of Norway found Russia’s involvement in hacking the emails of members of the Norwegian parliament Storting in August, during which a data leak had occurred.

“On August 24, Storting announced a data leak in its e-mail systems. It is a serious incident affecting our most important democratic institution. Security and intelligence services are working closely on a national settlement of the incident. According to the government’s information base, we believe that Russia is behind this activity,” the statement said.

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Nobel Peace Prize

Cuban Doctors with Nobel Peace Prize accepted

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

As a recognition, the Chilean Solidarity Movement with Cuba on Wednesday appreciates the acceptance by the Norwegian Nobel Committee of new nominations to grant this award to the Cuban doctors. 
The confirmation by the Nobel Institute to nominate Cuba’s Henry Reeve Medical Contingent for that prestigious award in 2021 was revealed in Santiago on Tuesday. Julio Pinto Vallejos, National Prize of History 2016 in Chile, presented it this time.

The prominent academic received notification from that entity, regarding to accept the nomination proposal sent by him in a letter in accordance with the regulations of the Norwegian Institute.

On October 8, the Norwegian Nobel Institute also accepted the nomination from Chile of the Cuban doctors’ brigades presented by prominent Chilean academic Haroldo Quinteros, Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences.

Under the slogan ‘Doctors and not bombs, for life and peace’ the campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize was launched in Chile in August.

The Henry Reeve contingent was founded on September 19, 2005. Its brigades have worked in many countries, especially fighting the Ebola epidemic in Africa and this year the Covid-19 pandemic in nations of several continents.

ef/iff/mem/rc

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Asia and Norway

Norwegian FM delivers presentation on multilateralism

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide on October 14 delivered a presentation on multilateralism amid rising global geo-political tension and pressure on multilateral system

Co-organised by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the Norwegian Embassy in Vietnam, the event was held both online and offline in Hanoi and Oslo. 

In her opening speech, DAV Deputy Director Pham Lan Dung said it contributes to strengthening bilateral ties and reflects the two countries’ strong commitment to multilateralism to effectively cope with challenges amid changes in the region and the world. 

Assistant to Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu affirmed that multilateral diplomacy is an important strategic orientation in Vietnam’s foreign policy. 

With a long-standing relationship as well as shared interests and concern, the two countries’ commitment to supporting multilateralism will lay a solid foundation for them to boost collaboration not only via bilateral channel but also international forums, especially at the United Nations when Norway will become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2021-2022 tenure. 

He wished that Norway would continue bolstering cooperation with ASEAN and supporting its central role in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. 

Søreide, in her speech, said Vietnam’s commitments to ASEAN are of significance to strengthening internal solidarity and the bloc’s role in the world. 

She affirmed that both Norway and Vietnam strongly believe in multilateralism and rules-based international cooperation. 

As challenges become increasingly serious when the world is experiencing unprecedented medical and socio-economic crises due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said only international solidarity and cooperation could bring about recovery and development. 

According to her, during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, Norway will focus on peace-building diplomacy, strengthening women’s role in building sustainable peace, protecting people amid conflicts, and coping with security risks related to climate. 

In order to effectively address challenges in the near future, the UN needs to develop partnership with regional mechanisms such as ASEAN and the EU, she said. 

Her presentation concluded with a strong affirmation about the value of multilateralism spirit that countries need to develop amid current and upcoming challenges. 

Participants also discussed promising cooperation fields between the two nations and highlighted determination to reinforce multilateral system for the benefit of the two countries, regions and the world./.

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Crimes

Supreme Court sentences Norwegian MP

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Parliamentary Representative Mazyar Keshvari, a former politician for the Progress Party (FRP), was sentenced to eleven months of prison after newspaper Aftenposten revealed that he had submitted false travel expense bills to the Storting over the course of several years.

Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix

The Court of Appeal sentenced the former FRP politician to seven months of prison, but the prosecution appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court decided to increase Keshvari’s (FRP) sentence. He has now been sentenced to eleven months in prison for fraud before the Storting.

The Supreme Court concluded that the representative took advantage of the fact that no checks were made regarding whether the trips actually took place in the relevant period.

The Supreme Court emphasized that this was a serious breach of trust committed in the role of a parliamentary representative.

That provided a basis for increasing the penalty.

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Asia and Norway

Founding Anniversary of WPK Commemorated in Various Countries

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Meetings took place in Pakistan, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Kazakhstan, and Belarus from Sept. 24 to Oct. 7 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).

At a meeting held in Pakistan, a reporter and speakers said that the WPK is a great and dignified party which has advanced along the ever-victorious road since its foundation, holding aloft the banner of the Juche idea and weathering stern trials of its revolutionary struggle.

The first secretary of the Khabarovsk Territorial Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said that the WPK, founded by President Kim Il Sung and strengthened by Chairman Kim Jong Il, is a popular party, which solves every problem by relying on the people, adding that it is the faith of the WPK that there is nothing impossible to do if it believes in the people and relies on them.

The chairman of the Ostfold County Committee of the Communist Party of Norway said that the Juche idea, the guiding idea of the WPK, serves as the best cornerstone for developing socialism in the DPRK.

The chairman of the Denmark-DPRK Friendship Association said that the WPK is enjoying absolute support and trust by the revolutionary parties and progressives in the world as well as all the Korean people.

The chairman of the Kazakh Kim Jong Il Association for the Study and Dissemination of the Juche Idea said that although the DPRK was recently battered by natural disasters, the Korean people have pushed forward with the campaign to remove their aftereffects under the leadership of the great Party.

The chief of the Belarusian Group for Solidarity with the DPRK hoped that the Korean people would accomplish the cause of building a powerful socialist country without fail under the guidance of the WPK.

Messages of greeting and congratulatory letters to Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un were adopted at the meetings held in Norway and Denmark.

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Economics

UECC joins UN Global Compact

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

United European Car Carriers (UECC), a Norway-based provider of shortsea RoRo transportation, has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary platform where close to ten thousand corporations and organizations in 160 countries develop, implement and share best practices in sustainable and responsible business.

“We are proud to invest time and resources in a global initiative for business conduct and corporate governance that is ethical and sustainable, where people and planet are at the centre for how businesses are run. Sustainable development is desired by our parent companies, our management group, and praised by all our employees,” Glenn Edvardsen, CEO of UECC, commented. 

“The principles of UN Global Compact initiative are in line with how we have conducted our business for years already, and we will ensure that we continue to comply with these guidelines, and raise the bar together with global businesses of all sizes and shapes,” he continued.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), carbon dioxide emissions from shipping were equal to 2.2 percent of the global human-made emissions in 2012, and are expected to rise 50 to 250 percent by 2050 if no actions were taken. This has led to the creation of many industry-led programs to reduce the negative impact. Shipping companies all over the world are taking action to commission and operate ships that are more carbon-neutral.

Edvardsen believes that the maritime industry has a long way to go towards a more carbon-neutral future. UECC has for several years invested substantially in upgrading its fleet to run on more sustainable fuels, using LNG and biofuel instead of traditional marine oil fuel. 

The company has partnered with Goodships and BMW Group to reduce CO2 emissions on shipments by 80-90% and is the first to introduce RoRo ships that will operate as dual-fuel and battery-powered hybrids.

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Asia and Norway

US working on sanctioning Myanmar officials for oppressing Rohingya: State Department

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The United States is “actively working” on sanctioning Myanmar military officials responsible for the oppression of the Rohingya minority, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Richard Albright told reporters on Thursday.

“We are taking actions, including the imposition of visa sanctions and financial sanctions, on Myanmar military officials,” Albright said at the telephonic press briefing after the virtual conference on the support of Rohingya refugees.

The United States’ approach of supporting affected people is based on providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons and holding accountable those who are responsible for atrocities, Albright added.

Earlier on Thursday, the United States announced a new aid package worth USD 200 million to support Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar.

According to data provided by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 800,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh between 2017 and 2019 amid clashes there.

Below is a full rush transcript of the press conference with Richard Albright Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at U.S. Department of State And Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office And Janez Lenarčič Commissioner for Crisis Management European Commission And Indrika Ratwatte Director of UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

DAS Albright:  I would like to start really by just stating how pleased we, the United States, has been to partner with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to co-host today’s conference.  I want to recognize the governments and people of Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and others for their responsiveness to the needs of Rohingya refugees.   

This conference sought to sustain the international response to the Rohingya crisis and the international community has come together once again to help alleviate the suffering of those in need and to invest in the generous host communities that help them as well.  We’re very pleased with the turnout and to know that nearly 200 million in additional – $200 million in additional humanitarian assistance the United States announced today is part of nearly $600 million in total assistance announced by the international community today.   

Looking forward, the most immediate step is for the Government of Myanmar to permit humanitarian aid to flow to those in need and to create the conditions for sustainable returns of displaced persons in line with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.  And we support the work of the UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener to press for solutions to the crisis. 

In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to following up on efforts to provide Rohingya refugees and other displaced Rohingya with expanded opportunities to live lives with dignity and to resolve the root causes of the crisis.  The international community could play an important supporting role, but it is essential to understand that the Government of Myanmar is at the heart of a permanent solution, and we stand ready to support concrete improvements in Rakhine State in parallel with continuing to respond to the needs of Rohingya refugees in the region.  

Mr. Ahmad:  Today’s conference, as we’ve just heard, has brought together the international community in solidarity to show that the world has not forgotten the plight of the Rohingya people.  It’s hard to grasp the size of the humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya community.  But more than 740,000 were forced to flee their homes in the face of horrific brutality over three years ago.  Three years later, they are no closer to going home, despair is setting in, and they’re also dealing, of course, with the realities of the coronavirus. 

Today at the conference, the United Kingdom on our part announced a further £37.5 million to stop the suffering for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar.  That brings our total UK commitment to the Rohingya response since August 2017 to close to 300 million pounds sterling.  This UK aid will – new UK aid will provide vulnerable people with food, healthcare, water, and sanitation.  And it also importantly improves access to education for 50,000 young people, as well as isolation and treatment centers for people suffering severely from coronavirus. 

Also recognizing the important role of the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi people, the UK has also announced £10 million of support to Bangladesh to help their country respond to the coronavirus and natural disasters, such as flooding, bringing our total new announcements today to 47.5 million.   

The UK stands at the forefront with international partners of providing life-saving aid, food and water and shelter, as well as education and counseling.  In addition to that, the UK has also sanctioned two generals in the Myanmar military as recommended by the UN independent investigation, which found them responsible for atrocities against the Rohingya community which is tantamount to ethnic cleansing. 

We have also made it clear along with the entire UN Security Council that Myanmar must take solid and constructive steps to create the conditions that will allow for the Rohingya to voluntarily return to Myanmar, of course, keeping in mind their safety and dignity.  And as well as being the second-largest donor to the Rohingya crisis, the UK continues to provide aid in Myanmar itself, including health, clean water, sanitation within the Rakhine State as well.  That amounts to about £44 million to all communities since 2017. 

And finally, we stand with other international partners in the need to support this event as a co-host with the United States, the European Commission, and UNHCR, to working together and committing ourselves once again to decisive action that will allow the Rohingya community to return safely back home.  Thank you. 

Mr. Lenarčič:  Ladies and gentlemen, today we have come together to demonstrate again our solidarity and support of the Rohingya people.  We are very much grateful to the government and the people of Bangladesh, as well as other host countries, for their continued support of Rohingya refugees. 

After this conference, many countries and institutions have reiterated their commitment towards the Rohingya community.  And for its part, the European Union has agreed to step up its efforts, pledging 96 million in support of the Rohingya crisis in the year 2020.  But of course, as we all know, humanitarian aid is not enough.  First, we must pursue a sustainable, durable solution to this crisis.  And this means we have to continue to seek and facilitate the safe and voluntary return of the refugees to their places of origin or choice.  And in this context, I would say that the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission are a good basis for this. 

Second, we must continue to support the Rohingya people’s aspirations for a better future, including, in particular, providing access to education to all Rohingya children. 

And finally, we must ensure that this crisis does not become a forgotten tragedy.  The European Union continues to stand ready to assist with its efforts.  The Rohingya people and their host communities can count on our support also in the future.  Thank you. 

Mr. Ratwatte:  I’d like to start by thanking our co-hosts, the governments of the United States, the UK, and the EU for the collaboration in pulling together this very important meeting.  And as the High Commissioner expressed in his closing remarks, we are grateful for all of those who have participated today and the strong financial support for the Rohingya refugee situation and the displaced Rohingya within Myanmar.   

Most of all, we’re grateful for the contributions of the refugees themselves, who are at the heart of the humanitarian response and show us all daily how capable they are as individuals and as a community, as we heard from the refugee voices and the powerful film clip in Omar’s Film School. 

We must also particularly express the thanks to Bangladesh, who continues to host 860,000 Rohingya, as well as Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and Thailand, as generous hosts despite the challenges imposed with COVID, as we see today.   

Ultimately, we must live up to the hope that the Rohingya refugees themselves still maintain, even after more than three years of exile.  We are concerned by the risks that many are taking on perilous journeys, as we have witnessed this year with the tragic loss of life.  And we are grateful to those countries who have allowed them to disembark safely, and urge all that the strategy must remain on the safe, predictable disembarkation to save lives and to prevent the tragic loss of life we have witnessed in the recent months. 

As you have heard, the Rohingya wish to go back to Myanmar when it is safe and sustainable to do so.  As such, we must renew our efforts together with the Government of Myanmar to realize the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, which is the roadmap that we have collectively agreed to pursue, and to make the aspirations and the hopes expressed by the refugees themselves into reality.  To this end, UNHCR stands committed in solidarity and in partnership to work with the international community, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the host countries in the region and beyond to make this a reality.  Thank you very much. 

Question:  Did I understand correctly that the total raised today was $600 million? Is that what you expected?  Is it less or more? 

Mr. Ahmad:  It’s Lord Ahmad here, minister of state from the UK, and perhaps others could follow.  I think if you look at the backdrop of today’s donor conference and the fact that the world itself is going through the incredible challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, and of course the increased challenges posed on economies around the world and of course domestic challenges, I think the fact that over $600 million, over half a billion dollars, has been raised at today’s event I think is a testament to both the solidarity and the common humanity we share in standing up for the Rohingya community.   

So I’m very much not just encouraged but delighted and also quite humbled by the generosity of countries from across the globe who have once again come forward and made generous contributions.  

DAS Albright:  I would add to – I would concur with that.  Coming into the conference today, the humanitarian response plans were nearly 50 percent funded for the year.  So this is added, additional, new funding to a much more sustainable level, which is where we were hoping to achieve.  Thank you. 

Mr. Lenarčič:  If I may add from Brussels, Janez Lenarčič from the Commission, this amount almost doubles what was available or pledged so far toward the Rohingya crisis.  That’s one point.  Second point, you cannot compare different situations because there are different numbers of people who are in need of humanitarian aid.  So there is no reason for a comparison in absolute figures of pledged sums with some other situation.  

We are happy with the result of today’s pledging event, with today’s conference.  It demonstrated the solidarity of the international community, the continued solidarity of the international community with the plight of the Rohingya refugees and the needs of the host communities. 

Question:  Do you have any comment on the reaction of China and Russia?  Do they still support the Burmese Government ?  

DAS Albright:  Well, what I can say is that these other countries were invited to the conference.  They chose not to participate.  We are working very hard with our partners, UN agencies, NGOs, and other governments, to stop the cycle of violence in Rakhine, including by cooperating to end trafficking of weapons and narcotics that have contributed to instability so far in Rakhine and other parts of Myanmar.  And we believe that the permanent five members of the UN Security Council have a special obligation to contribute to ending conflict and aiding the victims of violence.  

We certainly recognize the contributions of other regional partners, and encourage responsiveness to the needs of the Rohingya refugees and the displaced Rohingya inside of Myanmar.  And we are trying to develop a multifaceted approach to resolve this crisis in adherence with international humanitarian principles, and avoid any kinds of unilateral measures, so that I would just stress that returns to Myanmar should be safe, should be voluntary, dignified, and well-informed.  Those are the principles that we adhere to in this response. 

Question:  First of all, the 597 million that were announced as the amount being raised today, are you satisfied that that is all new funding?  That wasn’t announced by donors before today?  Second of all, there’s been quite a bit of talk about the security situation in the camps in Cox’s Bazar.  Recently, I’ve spoken recently with Rohingya refugees who are very scared of violence occurring within the camps by criminal groups, and more recently by Bangladeshi security forces.  What that something that’s factoring into thinking of the humanitarian response?  And what’s being done to alleviate that?  

Mr. Ahmad:  I mean, every country, obviously, would need to speak for itself.  This is part of an additional monies to what we had announced previously for support for the Rohingya, and as I said in our contribution from the UK, we’ve sought to also recognize the challenge on Bangladesh in providing support to the Rohingya community both within Cox’s Bazar but also outside Cox’s Bazar as well. 

On your specific issue of the escalation of violence, I’m sure I speak for everyone on this call.  We’re all concerned, I think, about the escalation of violence.  And my last information was that since the 4th of October, I think seven people had also sadly died in this respect.  And the situation we understand from the Bangladeshi authorities – and Bangladesh were on the call today as well – and it has calmed down somewhat.  And we’re obviously supportive of ensuring both the welfare within those people within the camps, but also ensuring that the environment is both safe and secure.   

And in terms of humanitarian partners, of course we need to ensure that the partners we work with within Cox’s Bazar are also able to operate both unhindered, but also putting their safety and security first.  So while it is a – anyone who’s visited Cox’s Bazar, and certainly I have, it’s an incredibly – I termed it as one of the worst cases of humanity coming together, yet you put it into context that that is – that they are the lucky ones who have escaped with their lives.  So it’s incumbent on all of us to seek to improve both the health, safety, and security of people within Cox’s Bazar and work with Bangladesh to ensure the security of people within Cox’s Bazar as well. 

Question:  The first question I’d like to pose to UNHCR:  If they have a position on the security fencing that is being put up in Cox’s Bazar and the implications around freedom of movement?  And the second question is for PRM:  It’s interesting that the UK has pledged an additional $10 million to the country of Bangladesh as the host community.  Has the U.S. Government considered doing something similar to the UK? 

Mr. Ratwatte:  UNHCR has been working closely with the Government of Bangladesh, while acknowledging that the maintenance of security and law and order is the prerogative of the government.  We have underscored two points regarding their present response.  One, that systemically the best approach to security within the refugee camps and settlements is to really engage the refugees themselves through community participation and through the elders and systems instructed within the community together with law enforcement authorities as the best way forward. 

While we recognize that criminality, trafficking, and narcotic trafficking is an issue in the region, we have also worked together with elders in the community and refugees themselves to articulate their concerns to the government, and also put in a system with the community with protection and monitoring where issues related to security is fed into the government.  And enhanced also reporting, particularly for the vast majority of the population, who are women and children. 

And lastly, I think another way to look at the mid- to long-term issue related to security, stability, and well-being of the refugees is really to have opportunities, skills, and education within the camps that engage young people.  And as we all know, criminality is only for a few in these camps.  The vast majority are law-abiding individuals, and that we give opportunities for the young people in particular that we are able to build a future for them, and we dissuade any actors who may be pursuing other intents away from the population. 

Question:  Are you concentrating more on humanitarian assistance than on accountability and repatriation?  Are you giving more focus on Bangladesh than Myanmar?

DAS Albright:  Just let me first just respond to the previous question just about humanitarian and versus development resources.  I mean, in today’s conference we announced we were focused on humanitarian response and we announced over 200 million of new humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya crisis.  That brought our total for the year to $437 million, and that brings our total for the whole response since 2017 to $1.2 billion for this humanitarian response.   

We also have a longstanding and significant development program in Bangladesh, and we can provide you additional details on the scope of that program.  But a significant portion of that program is also geared toward supporting host communities in Cox’s Bazaar and Bandarban, and so we can provide you more – a bit more information on that.   

I would say that in response to the latest question, I mean, we are – we’re focused on – both on immediate life-saving humanitarian assistance for the affected refugees and internally displaced Rohingya and looking for solutions that would facilitate their return, looking to create conditions for return in Rakhine State.  But we are also working for accountability for atrocities that have occurred and supporting the processes in the International Court of Justice and other approaches for accountability.  And we have also taken action, including the imposition of financial sanctions and visa sanctions, on Myanmar military officials.  

DAS Albright:  I just wanted to thank all of our co-hosts – the United Kingdom, the European Union, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.  I would like to thank all of the donor countries that participated in making this conference a success in, as Commissioner Lenarčič noted, nearly doubling the resources available for the humanitarian response.   

I would like to thank all of the countries of the region that have played and continue – will continue to play a critical role in working together to achieve solutions for this crisis, and thank you all for listening. 

Mr. Lenarčič:  I would also like to add my voice to the words of thanks just announced by Deputy Assistant Secretary Albright.  Our thanks go first to the host communities in Bangladesh and to Bangladesh Government.  Our thanks go to all the participants of today’s event that have pledged additional funding.  And I would like to underline that the European Union will remain committed to, first, immediate support for refugees and IDPs, Rohingya; and second, to the efforts to find a sustainable and durable solution, which, as many have said already today, is in their homeland, and that is Myanmar. 

Mr. Ratwatte:  I’d like to echo the comments by the Commissioner and Deputy Assistant Secretary Albright, and again, thank the co-hosts and all the participants, particularly also the host countries, namely Bangladesh and the others.  But also frame it, as others have done, as a regional problem that requires strong regional participation and the international community here, because I think what we heard from the refugees and everybody today is that status quo is something that cannot be sustainable in the long to mid term, and that the work we have to do together with the Myanmar Government to create conditions for solutions – namely sustainable, voluntary return in safety and dignity – should be an investment to be undertaken collectively.  Because that is, at the end of the day, the aspiration of the Rohingya which we have to work towards.   

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Africa and Norway

Norway targets Kenya in new Sh65 billion humanitarian plan

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The Norwegian Government has announced a multibillion plan that is meant to alleviate the damaging effects of humanitarian crises to the economy and livelihoods now felt the world over.

In what would be a sigh of relief to Kenya that was almost brought to its knees on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftershocks, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set aside Norwegian Krone (NOK) 5.5 billion, equivalent to Kenyan Sh65.4 billion, for urgent humanitarian assistance.

“In line with the Government’s humanitarian strategy, Norway will work to ensure an effective response in areas where the needs are greatest,” said the Ministry in a statement. 

Moreover, it noted, “In 2021, we will maintain our focus on protection, in particular protection against sexual and gender-based violence, protection of children and young people, and protection of civilians from land mines and other explosives.”

The Ministry also said that the funds would be available for any country adversely suffering the effects of climate change. COVID-19 is not out of the picture either.

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Asia and Norway

Market Intervention Scheme for procurement of apples in Jammu and Kashmir for the year

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The Indian Union Cabinet, chaired by Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the extension of Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for apple procurement in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for the current season also i.e. 2020-21 on the same terms and condition as was done in J&K during last season i.e. 2019-20.

The procurement of apple will be done by Central Procuring Agency i.e. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation ltd. (NAFED) through State Designated Agency i.e. Directorate of Planning and Marketing, Department of Horticulture & Jammu & Kashmir Horticulture Processing and Marketing Corporation (JKHPMC), directly from apple farmers of J&K and the payment will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into Bank account of apple farmers. 12 LMT of apples can be procured under this scheme.

          Government has also allowed NAFED to utilize Government Guarantee of Rs. 2,500 Crore for this operation. The losses, if any, to be incurred in this operation will be shared between Central Government and UT administration of J&K on 50:50 basis.         

The constituted Designated Price Committee of last Season will be continued for the fixation of price of various variety and grades of apples for this Season also. The UT administration of J&K shall ensure the provision of basic amenities in the designated mandis.

          Smooth and continuous implementation of the procurement process will be monitored by constituted Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary at the central level and constituted implementation & Coordination Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary at the UT Level.

This announcement of the Government of India will provide an effective marketing platform to apples growers and will facilitate employment generation for the local people. It will ensure remunerative prices for apples resulting in overall income enhancement of farmers in J&K.  

(By Press Information Bureau, Government of India, New Delhi)

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