Norway was thrust into a form of national paralysis on Thursday, after the Royal Palace issued an ominous message that King Harald’s health had taken a turn for the worse. Both the queen and the crown prince cancelled their programs, and so did many others in the government, the parliament and various public institutions.
Officials at the Royal Palace in Oslo issued a short but ominous statement about King Harald V’s health Thursday morning that set off massive concern and seemed to bring the country to a halt. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
The Norwegians’ ailing, 89-year-old monarch’s health was suddenly described as “extremely serious” and royal family members quickly started assembling by his bedside at the national hospital in Oslo (Rikshospitalet). He’d been hospitalized once again early last week, suffering this time from anemia along with a bacterial infection in his blood.
King Harald had seemed to respond to treatment with antibiotics but then came news that his condition had worsened over the weekend. It was then said to have stabilized earlier this week, but declined again, and family members who had been visiting him separately turned up in force.
They included his wife of nearly 58 years, Queen Sonja, also age 89, and their son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, who turned 53 last month. The king and queen should have been celebrating their wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 29, but like many other events in recent months, any party had been postponed.
Also at his bedside was Crown Prince Haakon’s wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who underwent a lung transplant earlier this summer, and both of their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. The first-born Ingrid Alexandra is the next heir to the throne after her father Haakon.
The king’s daughter Princess Martha Louise was also at his bedside on Thursday. Her American husband has recently undergone a kidney transplant in Oslo and remains in hospital himself. The king’s older sister, the 94-year-old Princess Astrid, also gathered with the family. She served as Norway’s first lady for King Harald’s widowed father, the late King Olav V, until Sonja Haraldsen married King Harald in 1968. Princess Astrid has also recently been in the hospital herself after heart trouble and a pacemaker operation in May.
It’s thus a hard-pressed royal family gathered around the monarch who by all accounts has done his best to keep them and the nation together. Their presence at his bedside and news reports of how dire the situation had become also set off a long string of events that revealed how Norwegian officials were expecting the worst.
The royal family’s entire official program was cancelled, the president of the Norwegian Parliament cut short a visit to Iceland and was traveling home to Norway, and the country’s bishops who were visiting the Vatican in Rome also cancelled the rest of their stay after meeting Pope Leo on Wednesday. They felt a need to get back to Norway.
So did members of the Parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee, who were on a trip to South Korea and Japan. They also cut their program short to travel home to Norway, while the president of the Sami Parliament cancelled meetings while sending a message that “our thoughts go to the king and his entire family.”
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was leading his government’s state budget conference, with all his ministers gathered at the new government headquarters in Oslo, when the news came of the king’s worsening condition. “I have with me the entire country in sending our warmest thoughts to the king and the rest of the royal family,” Støre stated shortly after 10am on Thursday, adding that he was “certain the king was well-taken care of” at the national hospital. Støre later cancelled a planned trip to Germany for a working dinner meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz Thursday evening.
Also by the king’s bedside was Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son Marius Borg Høiby, who’s been convicted of a long list of crimes and remains officially in police custody but has been allowed to be at home on the crown couple’s royal estate wearing an ankle cuff that restricts his movements. Newspaper Vårt Land reported Thursday morning that he, too, was with the royal family at the national hospital. He was four years old when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon but has never had a royal title. His defense attorney declined comment on his presence with the rest of the royal family, calling that “a private matter.”
Blomster bouquets from well-wishers began appearing on the grounds of the royal palace Thursday morning, which later in the day became a gathering spot for Norwegians and visitors alike. Among them was Erik Birkemo, who told state broadcaster NRK that he simply wanted “to show respect for our dear king, our head of state. I look up to him, and then I thought I could give something back by laying down flowers.”
The Swedish royal couple also sent greetings to King Harald and his family. “The Swedish royal court is following King Harald’s condition,” it wrote in a message to TV2 in Norway. “Our royal family has close contact with the Norwegian royal family, and sends its full support.”
Crown Prince Haakon and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, had to postpone long-planned celebrations of their 25th wedding anniversary this week. Her recent lung transplant along with King Harald’s current hospitalization forced cancellation of various events.
Mette-Marit, who’s also been involved in the scandal around the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and has a son in police custody, married Norway’s crown prince on August 25, 2001 in front of 800 guests in the Oslo cathedral. They then set off on a lengthy honeymoon, which was itself marred when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York on September 11 that year.
They’ve since had two more children together and claimed to look forward to celebrate their silver anniversary “when her health allows it,” according to a statement from the Royal Palace. They reportedly celebrated privately on Tuesday after the crown prince had visited his 89-year-old father at the national hospital (Rikshospitalet) in Oslo. The king’s condition was described as “stable” while he receives treatment for an infection and anemia.
A Russian hacker group calling themselves “Server Killers” has claimed to be behind three days of ongoing cyber attacks on various online public services in Norway. They further claimed that Norway’s recent renewal of support for Ukraine was behind their attack.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was back in Kyiv on Sunday, to renew Norway’s support for Ukraine and meet once again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Ukraine’s flag day. PHOTO: SMK/Olexandr Techyns’kyy
The disruption of service on Norwegian websites including MinID and Altinnbegan earlier this week, and the state directorate in charge of digital services was still struggling to restore full service on Wednesday. It has involved so-called “denial of service” after the hackers bombarded Norwegian servers with so much false traffic that they stop working for normal users.
Norway’s TV2 reported late Wednesday morning that the Russian hackergroup had claimed on the messaging service Telegram that it was behind the cyber attack. They reportedly declared cyber war on Norway because Norway renewed its security and defense cooperation with Ukraine during the weekend.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had traveled to Kyiv on Sunday along with several other leaders of Nordic and Baltic countries. In doing so they defied Russia’s near-constant bombing of civilian targets in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, and Støre was among those visiting bombing sites in the Ukrainian capital.
Støre visited a market in the Lukianivska area of Kyiv that was recently bombed in a series of Russian attacks. He marveled over how the Ukrainians have held out amidst so much damage and suffering. PHOTO: SMK/Olexandr Techyns’kyy
Støre made it clear that the visit alone was meant to mark ongoing support and admiration for how the Ukrainians continue to stand up to Russian military forces after nearly five years of the war Russian President Vladimir Putin launched after an unsuccessful invasion in 2022. After weeks of recent bombings, Støre stressed that his visit and renewal of defense cooperation “was also meant to show support for how the Ukrainian people have been put to the test, especially here in Kyiv.”
Støre noted how it’s been “a quite intense time right now,” with many Russian ballistic missile attacks and hundreds of civilian casualties. Residents have grown accustomed to being awakened by bomb blasts during the night, he noted, and “every day the Ukrainian people are living with the consequences of Russia’s brutal war. We’ve seen an increase of missile- and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, homes and critical infrastructure.”
Støre further noted how civilians are “systematically targeted, while at the same time Ukraine’s fight for freedom, independence and the right to decide its own future continues. That’s why it’s important that Norway continues to stand together with the Ukrainians.”
Støre joined other Nordic and Baltic leaders for meetings with Zelensky and his staff. All of them were impressed by the Ukrainians’ resolve to keep fighting, also after the US Trump administration has disappointed them all by diverting its attention to its own war on Iran. PHOTO: SMK/Sarah Fiona Luscombe Murphy
Støre had arrived in Kyiv on a morning train, as had leaders from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They all took part in a summit tied to Ukraine’s flag day and met with Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelensky. Norway vowed to continue its support that amounts to NOK 85 billion (USD 8.5 billion) in next year’s state budget.
He and Zelensky formally signed a renewed cooperation agreement on Sunday, with Støre noting that it “made a deep impression to see all the destruction after Russia’s recent wave of attacks on Kyiv. The resistance the Ukrainians show is impressive.” He added that Ukraine faces another “tough winter” ahead, and that Norway was “sending a clear signal that we will continue to help, both civilians and the military.” The Norwegian government’s support for Ukraine has full backing across party lines in Parliament and among a majority of Norwegians themselves.
That seems to have prompted this week’s retaliatory Russian cyber attack on Norway, which follows similar attacks in Denmark and Great Britain. Are Kvistad of Norway’s digital directorate Digdir told state broadcaster NRK Wednesday that “we are still working on limiting the consequences of the attack that’s still going on.” He claimed authorities “had control over the situation” after getting serveral targets up and running again. State police unit Kripos had launched its own investigation into the attack.
Currency traders pushed Norway’s krone on Tuesday up to its strongest level against the euro since early summer. The krone also strengthened against the US dollar, likely fueled by higher oil prices.
One euro cost NOK 10.87 Tuesday afternoon, making conversion the cheapest since the beginning of June. One US dollar cost NOK 9.31 late Tuesday afternoon, compared to as much as NOK 11 in recent years.
The Norwegian krone initially gained strength in early June but weakened again just before the summer holidays, and by late June a euro cost NOK 11.34. The Norwegian krone remained mostly on par with the Swedish Tuesday evening, at NOK 0.98 to SEK 1.
Norway’s state directorate in charge of digitalization (Digdir) found itself under another cyber attack during the night and well into Monday. Digital defense systems were said to be stable, however, and able to limit consequences of what amounted to data overload.
The attack continued into the afternoon, “but we have taken steps that have brought systems back up and available again,” Digdir director Frode Danielsen told state broadcaster NRK. Services affected included ID-porten and Altinn, often used for access to the tax authority and other state services.
It was the third attack in recent weeks and Danielsen warned that users could still experience instability. There was no comment on who or what was behind the latest attack.
Get well wishes were pouring in for Norway’s 89-year-old King Harald V on Monday, after the Royal Palace disclosed Sunday evening that his health had worsened during the weekend. The monarch has been in and out of the hospital in recent years, and now he’s being treated for anemia and another infection, this time in his blood.
Norway’s King Harald V, shown here leaving Parliament with Queen Sonja after its official opening late last year. PHOTO: Morten Brakestad/Stortinget
King Harald was hospitalized again a week ago, after receiving cortisone treatment for hemolistic anemia. That led to trouble with an accumulation of body fluids that required hospital treatment, and the palace announced he would remain in Norway’s national hospital (Rikshospitalet) until his condition improved.
On Sunday evening, the palace reported that his condition had worsened and that he was receiving antibiotics to fight “bacteria in the blood.” He reportedly was responding to the treatment and the situation, according to the palace, had stabilized.
That prompted media including Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) to offer online means of sending greetings to the king. The response was swift, with well over a thousand get-well messages accumulating on NRK’s website by mid-afternoon and reflecting just how important King Harald is to many Norwegians.
“Dear King Harald!” wrote Janet Kristine and Johan Fredrik Garmann. “We wish you all the best … and look forward to you getting back to your everyday life. You are the unifying person Norway needs in the times we’re living in.”
“You are unifying, inclusive and outstanding in your work,” added another well-wisher, Sofie Stene. “You are the person holding the people and the country together, and must get well again soon.”
Others also wrote about how much the king means to them: “Your Majesty, you are Alt For Norge (the royal motto that pledges the monarch’s goal to serve all of the country). Norway is Alt For Dem (Everything for you). Long live the king,” wrote Benjamin Hadland.
Several wrote that they were disappointed King Harald wouldn’t be able to take part next month in a visit to one of the last and very few municipalities in Norway that he hadn’t visited before. Terje Bøgeberg noted, however, that Queen Sonja had visited Skaun in Trøndelag a few years ago, “and she managed very well.”
Another Norwegian, Greta Malmo, wrote on NRK’s messaging service that she wished the best “for our king,” noting that he is “always wise and thoughtful” and has “a very good sense of humour.” Roger Bull Haahammer admitted he was no big fan of the monarchy in Norway, “but you have done a brilliant job as king. I wish you a speedy recovery with all of my heart!”
Others like Tormod Leithe also wished well for “our wise king,” while Tove-Mette Solvik wished “heaps of speedy recovery wishes” to “the finest and warmest king on the entire planet. We are lucky to have you.”
All the good wishes and concern for King Harald come after the past few years of crisis, controversy and scandal around other members of the Norwegian royal family. King Harald’s daughter Princess Martha Louise, his daughter-in-law Crown Princess Mette-Marit and her troublesome son Marius Borg Høiby have taken a toll on the monarchy, with its public approval ratings falling from around 80 percent to just over 60 percent in recent months. King Harald himself, however, remains popular and respected as does Queen Sonja. Their son, Crown Prince Haakon, is currently serving as regent during the king’s latest illness and has been under enormous pressure to keep calm and carry on.
Medical experts were warning on Monday that the elderly often have complicated health problems. Treatment for some can create new, and underlying weaknesses can quickly add to the complexity of their overall health status. “I’m worried, like most others are as well, I think,” Dr Anette Hylen Ranhoff, a professor and senior research at Norway’s public health institute, told NRK on Monday. “This is our dear king.”
Ranhoff thinks it’s “good news,” though, that King Harald was responding to treatment and that his condition was described as “stable” on Monday. Both Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon visited King Harald at the national hospital in Oslo on Monday afternoon.
UPDATED: Airline passengers could breathe a sigh of relief on Monday after Norwegian air traffic controllers called off the strike they’d launched just before the weekend. Their labour organization came to terms with state aviation agency Avinor Monday afternoon, after nearly six hours of renewed negotiations.
Air traffic controllers would be retuning to work in the tower at Norway’s gateway airport, Oslo Gardermoen (OSL), on Monday afternoon. OSL Gardermoen was hit hardest by the strike, along with Bergen’s Flesland airport. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
Avinor, represented by employers’ organization Spekter, and the air traffic controllers’ organization Flygelederforeningen issued a joint statement claiming they were all “extremely satisfied” that they’d reached an agreement. That in turn meant that “the strike that has rammed passengers and airline traffic is now over.”
All of the air traffic controllers who’d been called out on strike were heading back to work and would be “back on the job as soon as possible.” Avinor could also announce that airline traffic “is on its way back to normal.”
Airlines and their passengers still faced after-effects of the strike, with more delays and cancellations caused by aircraft that are out of place and the thousands of reschedulings for those stranded both in Norway and abroad. Travel insurance doesn’t cover distruptions caused by strikes, but the airlines themselves are responsible for getting passengers to their destinations.
Leaders of the organizations involved in the strike remained mum on details of their settlement, claiming they were subject to confidentiality clauses. The air traffic controllers’ leader, Robert Gjønnes, told state broadcaster NRK that they’d simply “carried out a professional and good dialogue. Dialogue is always the solution.”
Spekter leader Anne-Kari Bratten, who negotiated on behalf of Avinor, added that they’d come to terms on “a process for senior policy” for veteran air traffic controllers that includes more time off for those over age 55. The air traffic controllers themselves had claimed their strike wasn’t over pay levels, which already are high compared to other workers’, but rather a need for more breaks during long shifts at work.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), however, later reported that the most experienced air traffic controllers with more than 20 years of seniority will get much bigger pay raises than younger colleagues. Pay levels are already high for all of them, with DN reporting average salaries of NOK 1.66 million (USD 160,000). Seniors will receive raises of another NOK 72,000, while those with least experience will get raises of NOK 24,000.
The two sides initially hadn’t planned to meet for new talks until Tuesday, when more air traffic controllers would also be called off the job. They later announced, however, that they’d head back to the bargaining table at 8am Monday, which lead to the settlement Monday afternoon.
Negotiations went on for nearly six hours before the two sides came to terms. Avinor leader Abraham Foss, who’s responsible for airport operations in Norway, was glad that what he called “a demanding situation for many travelers and airlines” was over. He stressed that air traffic controllers “do a very important job every single day. It’s a job that demands high competence, precision and a feeling of responsibility, which is central for secure and well-functioning aviation.”
Gjønnes, meanwhile, publicly apologized for all the disruption that the strike had caused for travelers. An estimated 87,000 people were expected to travel through OSL Gardermoen alone on Monday, lines were long at check-in and security and it would take time before airline traffic was back to normal.
“It’s unfortunate when a third party is affected by the strike, and we are very sorry about that,” Gjønnes stated in an email to Norwegian media.
Norway’s gateway airport, Oslo Gardermoen, was shut down Sunday morning after Norwegian air traffic controllers launched a strike just before the weekend. All flights were cancelled for at least five hours and only a limited number of departures and arrivals would be allowed later in the day.
Norway’s main gateway airport at Gardermoen north of Oslo was shut down Sunday morning, disrupting air travel all over the country. PHOTO: Avinor – Nordic Office of Architecture – Ivan Brodery
The strike was also seriously affecting air travel to and from Norway and all over the country, with flight disruptions in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and all others run by the state airport agency Avinor. OSL Gardermoen reported 75 cancelled departures and 47 cancelled arrivals.
Residents and tourists alike faced flight cancellations and delays after an initial group of 12 Norwegian air traffic controllers were pulled off the job in a disupte over long working shifts and limited breaks. The air traffic controllers are well-paid, with average salaries of NOK 1.4 million (USD 140,000), but their leader complained of shifts that can last as long as 16 hours “in certain situations” without a break.
“Today the work shifts are not regulated as they should be,” Robert Gjønnes, head of the Norwegian air traffic controllers’ organization Norsk Flygelederforening, told newspaper Dagsavisen. “We want a framework for this, but don’t think our employer (Avinor, represented by employers’ organization Spekter) will enter into a dialogue about this.”
Spekter’s leader Anne-Kari Bratten retorted that it was “completely unreasonable” for the air traffic controllers to launch a strike that would so drastically affect air travel in Norway. She stressed that they had instead turned down a wage offer that amounted to an average NOK 62,000 more per, a raise of more than 4 percent that she claimed was in line with other wage settlements in Norway this year. Avinor also maintained in its information to the public that the strike was “a result of disagreements in wage negotiations,” and “would have consequences for air travel.”
Gjønnes insisted the strike was not about wages but about difficult working conditions. Air traffic controllers have long been well-paid because of their demanding work, special competence and responsibility for the lives and safety of everyone on board aircraft. “They have specialized education and often can’t be replaced,” researcher Kristine Nergaard at labour organization Fafo told Dagsavisen, “and flights can’t take off or land if they’re not on the job.”
That’s why all flights apart from medical emergencies were grounded Sunday morning, after flight disruptions earlier in the weekend. OSL Gardermoen was shut down for at least five hours, from 6:30-11:30am Sunday, disrupting flights throughout the day and for as long as the strike lasts. Norwegian Air alone had to cancel 72 flights that affected around 9,000 passengers. They’ll all need to be re-booked on other flights when some air space reopens, and were advised to remain in contact with their airline.
Air ambulances, police helicopters and defense forces will have priority over domestic aviation when only a limited number of air traffic controllers show up for work later on Sunday. More of them will be called off the job from Tuesday, however, if negotiations fail to resume. That would force closure of more air space around the country.
A head-on collision involving at least two cars on Wednesday closed an important highway connecting Northern- and Southern Norway. There was a massive emergency response to the fatal accident that left one person dead and three others seriously injured.
The crash occurred on the main north-south E6 highway close to the Dovregubbens hall restaurant and hotel complex. An employee there told state broadcaster NRK that traffic stood still while emergency crews both drove and were flown in to the area.
The speed limit in the area is 80kmt (50mph), and various reports indicated several cars were involved. All available emergency response crews and air ambulances in the area were sent to the site, along with fire trucks, police and state highway crews.
A 40-kilometer stretch of the scenic two-lane highway was expected to remain closed for around six hours in both directions, blocked on both the Dombås and Oppdal sides of it.
The views from a hilltop called Prekestolåsen on the Hurum peninsula south of Oslo are stunning, as they are from several other peaks in the area. Farmland surrounds the forested area known as Hurummarka, but more than four square kilometers of it is now targeted as the site of a new explosives plant that pits the value of the great outdoors against the need for defense and preparedness.
The view from the northern side of Prekestolåsen extends over to Rødbykollen, which is likely to be off-limits if and when Chemring Nobel builds its new explosives plant. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
Thousands of hikers have visited the area just in the last few years, after the local skiing and trekking association Skiforeningen chose it for three posts recommended to visit. It’s also a popular recreational area with local residents, many of whom now feel that both the government and the company behind the explosives plant, Chemring Nobel, are forcing the plant upon them.
Among them is Line Johansen, an independent representative on the local Asker municipal council. She fears that local democracy is being overrun by the close cooperation between Norway’s defense ministry and Chemring Nobel, which has operated another high-security munitions plant nearby since 1876. Both stress how demand for advanced explosives has soared since Russia launched its “brutal war” against Ukraine, while also citing “necessary military buildup in Norway and other allied countries.
“The need for military explosives in Europe is greated than today’s production capacity can meet,” states Chemring Nobel on its website, adding that a new explosives plant will also “strengthen Norway’s defense capability and contribute to NATO’s overall preparedness.”
Another view towards the hilly southeast of Hurummarka shows the extent of the sprawling area chosen for the new explosives plant. Not all of it would be developed, but security zones around it would limit public access. On the other side of the forested hills in the background lies the coastal town of Tofte, which has an industrial history and port facilities. Explosives could be shipped out from Tofte to customers via the Oslo Fjord. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
The new plant, which would produce “high-level explosives like HMX, RDX and NTO” needed for use in modern ammunition, remains in “an early phase,” according to Chemring Nobel, and it will be “several years” before it’s operable. The Norwegian government has already decided to concentrate on the Hurum site, with “comprehensive analyses and project plans underway.”
That’s what concerns Line Johansen most of all. She recently wrote in a commentary in newspaper Dagsavisen that “this is about how far the state can go when it thinks something is urgent. It’s about what will happen the next time a project is considered critical and is pushed through, whether it’s a power line, a new data center or a industrial project that’s deemed so important that local democracy must give way.”
She and many others object to what they think is a major power play by the state. More than 800 people had sent in their comments when the hearing deadline for the plans ran out last month. Many of them also responded negatively to the state process and questioned why it was so rushed, with newspaper Aftenposten reporting concerns the process was “undemocratic” and lacked any real opportunity for the public to influence it.
Opponents to the explosives plant have blocked off a road leading into the area where Chemring Nobel may want to build. An old building just up the road, once ironically tied to a military shooting range, has also been occupied but the demonstrators and squatters on the site have gone along with a fire department’s ban on sleeping in it. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
Opposition to the project has exploded itself in recent months, after local mobilization and the arrival of environmental activists from abroad. They occupied a building in the valley just under scenic Preskestolåsen and have launched colourful protests in the area. Ironically enough, the road they’ve blocked off that leads into the building was formerly defense property and the site of a military shooting range. When the defense department no longer needed the area, the state turned it over to the local government in Asker, but now wants it back.
“The project is of considerable importance for national interests and urgent,” wrote one planning leader in Forsvarsbygg, the state agency tied to the defense ministry that is in charge of defense property. He wrote to Aftenposten that the urgency is directly tied to “the acute and critical need for increased production of advanced explosives.” Chemring Nobel’s new plant will contribute, the agency has claimed earlier, to the supplies needed for the defense of Ukraine.
Demonstrators at the site, however, fear the explosives will instead be sold to the US “and sent to Israel,” claimed one of them, an elderly man who spoke Norwegian. Others at the site could not speak Norwegian, had come to Norway and Hurum to join a new environmental battle and did not want to reveal their names. Others were also masked, wearing scarves over their faces so as not to be identified. Their “Join the Resistance” pamphlets were also written in English, proudly proclaiming that “we have occupied the abandoned military barracks in Avgrunnsdalen (the valley below Prekestolåsen) and established an Actively Defended Zone in Hurummarka!”
This sign hung in the trees was written in Norwegian and calls for a halt to “the war machine, Hurummarka for the people and down with Chemring.” The agency birdhouse was also decorated defiantly. PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
They claimed to “support the locals in defending Hurummarka from the Ministry of Defense and Chemring Nobel’s planned explosives factory (Europe’s largest).” They called the factory “a profit-seeking military-industrial complex” that would be built “not for self-defense as claimed, but to enrich shareholders while expanding the war machine and the American empire.” They wrote that Chemring Nobel is wholly owned by British Chemring Groups PLC, of which the American firm Blackrock is the largest shareholder.
They further write that “90 percent of Chemring Nobel’s production is exported abroad, mostly to the US arms industry (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Space X) and often on to Israel. We know that explosives produced at Chemring are part of the American-made Hellfire missile, which is widely used in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians,” reads their leaflet passed out to visitors and at demonstrations.
The Norwegian government continues to stress the need for ammunition for Norway’s own defense and for shipments to Ukraine. The project alone can also serve as a deterrent to any prospective invaders, and Forsvarsbygg has written that it’s in Norway’s own national security interests that the explosives plant be up and running by 2030 at the latest.
Small signs like these line the public road into the entire area where the new explosives may be located. They read, simply, “NO TO an explosives plant in Hurummarka.” PHOTO: NewsinEnglish.no/Morten Møst
Opponents, however, cite yet other problems with the project, not least that few think Russia’s war on Ukraine will still be going on in 2030 or or beyond. There’s also the threat the new plant poses to the Oslo Fjord itself, which has been declared all but “dead” because of pollution, much of it from nitrogen found in the fertilizer run-off from agriculture. Chemring Nobel itself has been a source of nitrogen pollution at its original plant at Sætre, around 25 kilometers to the northwest. The company now promises it will have “strict demands for security, quality and the environment.”
Opposition has spread, meanwhile, and now includes some Norwegian celebrities like musician Ingrid Olava and comedian Sigrid Bonde Tusvik, who has written commentaries in local newspapers including Dagsavisen. The son of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who visited Chemring Nobel in 2024 just as the project was getting underway, also opposes the project. Magnus Jonas Slagsvold Støre lives on a farm in the area where he works as therapist and course leader and calls the explosives plant “dangerous peace politics.” He told newspaper VG recently that he wants the Hurum peninsula to remain “a place for water and nature, not fire and explosives.” Prime Minister Støre himself has thus declared a conflict of interest in the subject and withdrawn from debate on the issue.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre visited Chemring Nobel at its high-security plant at Sætre on the Hurum peninsula in late 2024, just when plans for the plant were announced. Støre has since declared himself subject to a conflict of interest because of his own son’s objections to the plant, and withdrawn from the decision-making process. PHOTO: Nils-Erik Bjørholt / Chemring Nobel
Newspaper Klassekampen reported in mid-July that Asker now wants to tear down the building that demonstrators are occupying. “The property today has no municipal function, and tearing it down is one of several things under consideration in the area,” municipal director Lars Bjerke told Klassekampen, “also to prevent any dangerous situations and hinder illegal use.”
There’s also the possibility that Russia’s war on Ukraine will end before Chemring Nobel could produce more explosives in Hurummarka in 2030 or beyond. “We hope the war has ended before then,” Karsten Friis of Norway’s foreign policy institute NUPI told Aftenposten. Friis still believes, however, that it’s important to boost production of explosives in Europe, because the war has emptied storage supplies at the same time Europe is building up its defense.
“Regardless of how things go with Ukraine, analysts think Russia continues to represent a threat to Europe as long as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin hangs on to power, and probably long than that,” Friis said. Both Europe and Ukraine will continue to need weapons, he stressed, even after the war ends.
