The Norwegian government toughened its stand against alleged US spying Thursday, calling in US Embassy officials in Oslo to explain themselves. The meeting at Norway’s Defense Ministry was the Norwegian way of expressing its displeasure with what otherwise is the country’s most important ally. Prime Minister Erna Solberg has already stated that espionage against your […]
Solberg: Spying on allies ‘unacceptable’
May 31, 2021
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg seemed characteristically unruffled on Monday over reports during the weekend about alleged US spying on its own allies including Norway. She called any such spying “unacceptable” but added that she wasn’t worried if they’d spied on her personally, suggesting she leads a “boring” life. “I have lived a long life with […]
Spy scandal soils Parliament’s leader
May 21, 2021
UPDATED: The president of the Norwegian Parliament, Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, has been subject to scathing criticism after she made sure that an embarrassing report on Norway’s military intelligence agency was kept secret. She’s supposed to champion openness, but her double vote against declassifying the report helped keep the results of a probe into the agency’s […]
Intelligence agency not so intelligent
April 22, 2021
NEWS ANALYSIS: Norway’s military intelligence agency known as E-tjenesten has reportedly been rebuked by the Parliamentary commission (EOS) that oversees its activities. The government is intent on keeping EOS’ latest report on the agency’s spying activity secret, though, leading many to wonder what the agency, the military and the government have to hide. EOS’ long-awaited […]
‘Spies target the oil and energy sector’
December 7, 2020
UPDATED: The abrupt resignation on Friday of the central bank boss responsible for Norway’s huge Oil Fund, because he’d lost his security clearance, came just a day after Norwegian intelligence experts warned of increased spying on the country’s oil and energy sector. Among those believed to be behind the alleged spying: China and Russia. Jon […]
Defense minister questions spying
November 18, 2020
Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen has taken contact with his Danish counterpart to find out more about alleged spying by the US on Denmark and some of its closest allies. The scope of the US’ alleged spying remains unclear, as does its targets. Bakke-Jensen acted after opposition parties in the Norwegian Parliament demanded more information […]
Russian ‘downturn’ long time coming
October 14, 2020
NEWS ANALYSIS: Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Jonas Gahr Støre, leader of the opposition in Parliament, could agree on at least one thing on Wednesday: Russian cyber attacks on Members of Parliament and its employees mark a serious “downturn” in relations with Norway. Tensions had already been rising, prompting Norway to step up defense efforts […]
‘Historic’ reaction to Russian hacking
October 14, 2020
The Norwegian government is mounting what commentators are calling an “historic” reaction against Russia. It was front-page news on Wednesday after Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide blamed Norway’s neighbour in the north for an attack on the Norwegian Parliament’s email systems, and then went public with it. “This is a very serious incident, affecting our […]
Frigate loss didn’t hurt Navy chief
September 8, 2020
He led Norway’s naval defense when naval officers on board one of the country’s five frigates collided with a tanker in 2018 and later had to be scrapped. The frigate disaster hasn’t seemed to hurt the career of Vice-Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, though, after he was promoted and appointed as the new chief of Norway’s […]
Russia retaliates in espionage case
August 28, 2020
Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that one of its diplomats in Moscow is being expelled from Russia, after Norway expelled a Russian diplomat last week. The retaliation was not unexpected as both countries accuse the other of spying. Jan Flæte, who carried the title of ambassaderåd at Norway’s embassy in Moscow, is being declared […]
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