This week’s Brexit drama is once again being followed anxiously in Norway, which struggled with its own EU referendum results in 1994. Now Great Britain is Norway’s single biggest trading partner, and Norwegian seafood exporters in particular don’t want, for example, to see their fish rot in any long lines at customs if the UK […]
State urges foreign residents to vote
September 4, 2019
Monday’s municipal and county elections in Norway are the only ones in which non-citizens can vote, as long as they have legal resident status. State election officials are making a special effort this year to encourage everyone with “immigrant backgrounds” to exercise their right to vote and participate in Norway’s democracy. The Norwegian Directorate of […]
Quarreling spikes as election looms
September 3, 2019
NEWS ANALYSIS: With less than a week to go before important local elections are held all over Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg doesn’t only need to campaign against all of the country’s left-center opposition parties. She’s also had to spend much of this week dealing with more highly public quarreling within her conservative coalition, and […]
First archbishop ready to retire
September 2, 2019
Helga Haugland Byfuglien officially took over after King Harald V as head of the newly independent Norwegian Church when church and state were separated eight years ago. Now Byfuglien is about to turn 70, and says she’s ready to step down as the equivalent of Norway’s first archbishop. “There’s nothing dramatic about this,” Byfuglien told […]
State finally funds Viking ship repairs
September 2, 2019
Leaders of the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo could finally heave a sigh of relief on Monday, when government officials signaled release of NOK 35 million in funding for a new museum. Government ministers were also claiming that preservation of the ancient vessels housed there has always been a priority, despite dire warnings that Norway’s […]
Alta in mourning, campaign halted
September 2, 2019
All the political parties in Norway’s northern city of Alta have halted their election campaigns following a helicopter crash during the weekend that killed everyone on board. Among the victims were the son and niece of local Progress Party politician Ronny Berg. “We all think that it just feels completely wrong to keep campaigning in […]
No options for her royal confirmation
August 29, 2019
The daughter of Crown Prince Haakon was set to undergo Norwegian teenagers’ rite of passage this weekend, known as konfirmasjon. While record few now choose a church confirmation, opting instead for a civil ceremony or none at all, Princess Ingrid Alexandra has no choice, and some commentators think that’s a problem. The Royal Palace announced […]
‘United front’ as budget talks begin
August 28, 2019
After weeks of political turmoil and even speculation that her government might fall, Prime Minister Erna Solberg pulled her troops together once again on Wednesday as they headed into state budget talks. All four party leaders involved did their best to present a united front. “We sit in this government because there’s more that unites […]
Newspaper scolded over Giske coverage
August 28, 2019
One of Norway’s largest national newspapers, VG, was declared guilty Wednesday on five counts of breaking ethical standards set by the National Press Federation (Norsk Presseforbund). VG itself had pleaded guilty to two counts in its coverage of how Labour Party politician Trond Giske was photographed dancing late at night with a young woman in […]
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