State visit ended with diplomatic spat

A recent state visit to Norway ended on a sour note, when South Africa’s foreign minister refused to submit to routine security controls at Oslo’s main airport at Gardermoen. After a loud verbal quarrel with airport security personnel, she ended up chartering a private jet, which allowed her to avoid having her purse examined. Maite [...]

China allows ministerial meeting

Diplomatic relations between Norway and China, all but frozen since the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident, may finally have begun to thaw. Chinese authorities have agreed to allow Norway’s government minister in charge of oil and energy to attend an international ministerial meeting in Beijing. “I’m looking forward [...]

Russia: US will send ships to Norway

A Russian diplomat has claimed that American authorities are hoping to place warships in Norwegian waters as part of the planned NATO missile defense system. The Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitrij Rogozin, told news agency NTB that “when I talked with my American colleagues, they did not rule out the possibility of placing missile defense [...]

Ambassador’s food blog boils over

Norway’s ambassador to Afghanistan stirred up a storm of controversy this week when he wrote about his passion for good food and wine, and how he had to train his cook in Kabul, on the Foreign Ministry’s blog site for diplomats. Hattrem’s blog was viewed by many as being not only undiplomatic, but also in [...]

Bolivia, Morocco angry with Norway

Bolivian officials are furious after a young Norwegian woman, armed with a newly issued Norwegian passport in a new name, fled drug charges and flew home to Norway over the weekend. Morocco’s ambassador to Norway, meanwhile, was also angry this week after two members of Norwegian special forces were cleared of any charges tied to [...]

Embattled UN boss lands in Oslo

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon landed in Norway Sunday night and charmed assembled reporters by speaking Norwegian, but he avoided all questions on the harsh criticism he received recently from one of Norway’s own ambassadors to the UN. It’s the first time Ban has visited Norway, even though Norway is one of the world’s leading [...]

Obama picks his man for Oslo

US President Barack Obama has settled on a veteran Boston lawyer to be his new ambassador to Norway. Barry B White, not surprisingly, is also a major campaign fundraiser for the Democrats and worked hard to help get Obama elected. Many Norwegians have been eagerly awaiting who Obama would appoint as his ambassador to Norway. [...]

Custody dispute sets off diplomatic incident

A custody dispute over two teenagers with dual Norwegian and Moroccan citizenship has turned into a diplomatic incident, involving charges of kidnapping and death threats against Norway’s ambassador to Morocco. The kidnapping charges are being hurled by both sides in the dispute, with the Norwegian ex-wife of former Olympic athlete Khalid Skah initially claiming that [...]

Chechnyan peace talks in Oslo

Neither the Norwegian nor Russian governments are formally involved, but top representatives for the ruling Chechnyan government and its exiled opposition are in Oslo for talks aimed at reconciliation. The organizer of the meetings calls them “historic.” Newspaper Aftenposten reported Wednesday that Chechnya’s two leading rival factions are negotiating a political solution for the long-troubled [...]