Foreign Ministry shuffles posts

Norway’s diplomatic presence overseas is facing more changes because “the world is changing, and we see a clear shift in the power balance to new regions and countries, especially in Asia,” Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said this week. Støre said it was “important” for Norway to alter its diplomatic presence in relation to the [...]

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 [...]

Norwegian shot dead in Philippines

UPDATED: An 18-year-old Norwegian man was shot dead in Quezon City, the Philippines, in the early hours of the morning on Sunday July 31. The young man, later named as Mikael Troy Johansen Rasay from Oslo, was with a group of fellow Norwegian travellers when he was shot at 05:45 local time, before being pronounced [...]

Diplomats trained in black metal

The Norwegian foreign ministry has begun training aspiring diplomats in “TNBM – True Norwegian Black Metal” – after foreign service missions reported a rise in enquiries about the musical genre from around the world. Indeed, the popularity and scale of the black metal phenomenon were demonstrated recently as one of the style’s foremost proponents, Dimmu [...]

Peres criticizes Norway on Hamas

Israeli President Shimon Peres has criticized the Norwegian government’s refusal to classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, claiming that the country has “suddenly changed its standpoint” on such issues. “I do not understand Norway’s position, and I say that as a friend of Norway,” Peres told Norwegian TV channel, TV2. “If they shoot, if they [...]

Norway welcomes bin Laden death

Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre has hailed the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as “a pleasing breakthrough in the fight against terror,” while Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg warned that “the fight against terrorism is not over.” Speaking to news agency NTB, Støre said, “I praise the American action that led to the [...]

Government ends Syria deportations

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet, UDI) has stopped deportations of failed asylum seekers to Syria in light of the civil turmoil and violence in the country. On Wednesday, UDI said they were continuing deportations based on “individual evaluations” of cases, but would monitor the situation closely. Forced returns have now been stopped, and those [...]

Syrian asylum seekers still sent back

Unsuccessful Syrian applicants for asylum in Norway are still being sent back to their homeland despite the recent government violence against the civilian population and pro-democracy protests there. Denmark has already temporarily stopped the return of asylum seekers back to Syria – but the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board (Utlendingsnemnda, UNE) will not do the same. [...]

Politicians condemn Syrian brutality

Norway has condemned the Syrian government’s attacks against pro-democracy demonstrators in recent weeks, and is believed to be joining the USA in considering sanctions against the country. A junior minister in the foreign ministry and representative of the Labour Party, Gry Larsen, told news agency NTB that “Norway condemns in the strongest possible terms the [...]

Journalist finally released in Libya

UPDATED: Ammar Al-Hamdan, a Norwegian cameraman who works for worldwide news service Al-Jazeera, has been released in Libya, with the help of the Palestinian authorities and President Mahmoud Abbas, after being captured by government authorities six weeks ago. Norwegian officials, meanwhile, are maintaining their support for Norway’s involvement in the NATO-led military intervention in Libya. [...]

Several still trapped in Ivory Coast

13 Norwegians remain in the Ivory Coast as the conflict there intensifies, with Norwegian foreign ministry officials working to bring them home. All 13 are currently in different places within the country’s largest city, Abidjan, awaiting transport out of the conflict-ridden area. Norwegian authorities have been in contact with their French counterparts in order to [...]

Foreign Minister to relax with a taco

It was a good week for Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Not only did he finally get to help settle a long-standing border dispute with Russia, he could look forward to a rare weekend eating tacos with his family. Støre, who turns 50 in August, maintains a schedule that gives “busy” an entirely new [...]

Ambassadors’ pay sparks complaints

Several of Norway’s ambassadors have received double-digit pay raises that defy state demands for moderation. Newspaper Aftenposten reports that six ambassadors now even earn more than their boss, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (photo), and there’s rumbling among the rank and file. Some of the ambassadors receiving big pay raises were transferred out of central [...]

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 [...]

Norwegian flees drug charges in Bolivia

One of three young Norwegian women, caught with 22 kilos of cocaine while leaving Bolivia two years ago, has skipped bail and made her way back to Norway, reported TV2 over the weekend. Now Norway’s Foreign Ministry seems caught in the fray once again, after reports emerged Monday that she had received a new passport from [...]

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