Posted on 05/02/2006 4:22:33 AM PDT by Kurt_Hectic
US President George W Bush reportedly doesn't want to meet with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Norway also seems to have lost an influential role within NATO, apparently, some say, because of Norway's lack of enthusiasm for the war in Iraq. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg reportedly isn't welcome at the White House.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported Tuesday that Bush's staff had turned down a request from Stoltenberg's office for a meeting between the two at the White House. Bush, according to the report, was too busy to make room for Stoltenberg in the foreseeable future.
NRK reported that Bush's staff wouldn't set up the meeting because of the Norwegian left-center coalition government's criticism of the war in Iraq, and Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen's support for a boycott of Israeli products.
Jan Petersen, who was Norway's foreign minister in the last center-right government, told NRK that he feared a phone conversation Stoltenberg had with Bush shortly after last fall's election put a damper on relations between the US and Norway. In the conversation, Stoltenberg told Bush that Norwegian officers would be pulled out of Iraq.
Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor at the University of Oslo, said her sources also indicate that Norway no longer is part of the "inner circle" at NATO.
"My contacts in NATO and Washington say Norway was in the innermost circles in NATO, that we were a partner in this inner circle together with the US," Haaland Matlary told NRK. "Now these contacts say we aren't any longer."
Støre 'unaware'
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told NRK that he wasn't aware that a request for a meeting with Bush was denied. He maintained that the US continued to be an important ally for Norway, while White House officials claimed Norway also was an important ally for the US.
Indeed, Stoltenberg's government often has been criticized within Norway for being too eager to please the US. On issues ranging from the relocation of the US Embassy in Oslo to mixed signals on whether government ministers will meet representatives from Hamas, Stoltenberg has been accused of being too accommodating to US interests.
This in turn has raised concerns about a rift within his coalition government. Stoltenberg's Labour Party needs to cooperate with Halvorsen's Socialist Left, which has a far more critical line towards the US than Labour. A snub by Bush actually might help Stoltenberg appease the more left-leaning members of his government, and voters, at a time when the conservative Progress Party is leading in the polls.
The former center-right coalition government led by Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Christian Democrats, meanwhile, maintained good relations with Bush, even though Bondevik's government went on record as opposing the US-led invasion of Iraq from the start.
Just for the record, when the Nazis invaded, they suffered a very serious naval defeat (from which they never quite recovered) at the hands of Norwegian reservists manning shore batteries and shore-based torpedo tubes. Had the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force followed through after some initial successes, it would have been a different ... and shorter .... war.
Making such assumptions only highlights the four letters that describe you perfectly...U A S S!
I reacall reading that the British, French and Poles had the Germans up against the ropes in Narvik, until the Swedes shuttled German reenforcements up there on their railroad.
GOOD!
Stay there!
Norway is nowhere near a "toilet".
I've spent a lot of time there and generally reagard the country and its people well.
That said, the country does suffer from a leftist class of ruling elites, whose immigration and "sensitivity" policies have placed the Kingdom on the same road to dhimmitude already being paved by the likes of France, Holland, Sweden, etc. There is serious weakness in confronting the emerging Islamic threat to Norwegian civil society.
A great intro to recent developements in Norway (and the Netherlands) is Bruce Bawer's book "While Europe Slept. How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within.
http://www.brucebawer.com/
Is that aquavit you are drinking?
Your references to "we" and "my" with respect to Norway and you nickname seem to indicate that you are Norwegian and not American...
If my assumptions are correct about the above, perhaps you should persue a "FreeNorse" website...
If I am wrong...then you might want to reconsider your allegiance...
My understanding of immigration over the centuries is that folks migrate so as to live where something is or to get away from where something is...are you still in that cold dismal place where folks never smile?
If my assumptions are correct about the above, perhaps you should persue a "FreeNorse" website...
With your kind permission, but also without it, I peruse whatever websites I please.
I'd love to see Fremmskrittspartiet get the reigns there soon. Would Høyre and KrF go into government with FP? It seems these establishment parties keep FP at arms length regardless of how well FP is polling.
Allow me to clarify: Norway is a beautiful place, but politically it's a toilet and its politicians are floating turds.
Regards,
LH
So you left there a bit horney?
Some sharp naval actions in which the Brits gave a lot better than they got. The Germans lost some important ships right off the bat.
Some sharp naval actions in which the Brits gave a lot better than they got. The Germans lost some important ships right off the bat.
Perhaps President Bush knew they were going to be serving lutefisk, and there are just some things a President should not have to endure. ;)
Well said!
ROFL!!
Agree with you 70 percent (30 percent Progress Party exception).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.