Borders controlled during EU’s party
December 6, 2012
Few dispute the need for the high security that will be in place when around 20 European prime ministers and presidents stream into Oslo on Monday, to celebrate the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU). Some are joking over the irony, though, of Norway setting aside EU rules and reinstating border controls, in [...]
Sp retreats from Nobel-EU protest
December 3, 2012
After being met with a barrage of criticism from government colleagues, opposition parties in Parliament, national commentators and even some of their own party members, Norway’s small but feisty Center Party (Senterpartiet, Sp) is reining in its protest over the upcoming award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU). The party remains fiercely [...]
EU opponents snub Nobel party
November 29, 2012
EU leaders and as many as 18 heads of European governments will start descending on Oslo late next week to attend Nobel Peace Prize festivities in their honour, but several Norwegian government leaders and top politicians will be staying away. Their opposition to the EU, which won this year’s Peace Prize, is prompting anti-EU advocates [...]
Speculation swirls over Chinese chat
November 5, 2012
UPDATED: For the first time in two years, there’s been some top diplomatic contact between Norway and China. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported Monday that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, had a brief but cordial back-room conversation while both were attending an Asian-European summit in Laos. Norway was admitted on Monday [...]
Chinese leaders still mad at Norway
October 31, 2012
Politicians in China are in the midst of a major, scheduled leadership transition this fall but there aren’t any signs there will be a change in the country’s official position towards Norway. They still blame the Norwegian government for the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed Chinese dissident. [...]
EU’s Nobel guest list may be huge
October 19, 2012
The president of the European Union wants the leaders of all 27 EU member nations to travel to Oslo to accept their Nobel Peace Prize together in December. That would present a huge security challenge for Norwegian police, and the Nobel Committee’s guest list likely will be curtailed. The committee normally allows prize winners to [...]
More lash out at Nobel Committee
October 17, 2012
Now even the mayor of London is lashing out at the Norwegian Nobel Committee, for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize last week to the European Union (EU). The committee has also been fending off criticism at home, mostly from those who want to make sure Norway stays out of the EU. London Mayor Boris Johnson, [...]
The EU wins the Nobel Peace Prize
October 12, 2012
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the currently deeply troubled European Union (EU), citing the crucial role it has played in preserving peace among member nations. Most Norwegians have never wanted to join the EU, but their Nobel Committee praised it for contributing “to peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights” [...]
Prize may silence some Nobel critics
October 12, 2012
Reaction to the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Peace Prize to the EU was predictably mixed, but one man is very pleased indeed. Not only could committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland finally initiate acclaim for the EU, the prize also may help him silence a long list of critics. “Absurd,” “worthy,” “honourable” and [...]
No ‘perfect’ Peace Prize candidates
October 11, 2012
The Norwegian Nobel Committee had 231 nominees this year for the Peace Prize created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, and they’ve sorted through another wide range of candidates to agree on the winner. No one is “perfect,” admits the committee’s secretary, as speculation swirled over the most likely candidates. The Nobel Committee came under criticism [...]
Questions fly over Nobel screening
October 10, 2012
The Norwegian Nobel Institute was under criticism this week, just days before the Norwegian Nobel Committee announces the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Questions are being raised over how the committee and its staff at the institute actually screen nominees for the Peace Prize, and over the worthiness of several past winners. Norwegian [...]
Taiwan waits for a nod from Norway
October 9, 2012
Autumn is high season for diplomatic gatherings in Oslo, when local embassies host receptions or celebrate national holidays. One country is almost always left out, at other times of the year as well, but this week it held its own party once again and some “friends” from the Norwegian Parliament came with warm words of [...]
Stoltenberg’s son off to China
September 3, 2012
Neither Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg nor members of his government or other top Norwegian politicians have been welcome in China for the past two years, but now at least one member of Stoltenberg’s own family has secured a visa. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported Monday that Axel Stoltenberg, the 23-year-old son of the Norwegian prime [...]
Bono ‘starstruck’ by visiting ‘Lady’
June 18, 2012
Irish rock star Bono of the legendary band U2 was the latest celebrity to travel to Oslo on Monday, to attend a Foreign Ministry-sponsored peace forum and escort its own star attraction, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, back to Ireland with him. He claimed he was “starstruck” in “The Lady’s” presence. Bono, [...]
Burmese in exile hail their ‘Lady’
June 17, 2012
Thousands of Norwegian residents, many of them Burmese in exile in Norway, headed for the City Hall plaza (Rådhusplassen) in Oslo on Saturday to catch a glimpe of their heroine Aung San Suu Kyi, fondly referred to as “The Lady” in Burma. Torrential rains didn’t scare them away, the mood was festive and another party was [...]
