Realities should not influence Norwegian Ukraine policy

We are seeing the end of the tragedy in Ukraine, which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and made 10 million refugees. But Norwegian politicians insist on continuing the war.

These are tough times for Norwegian politicians, who are seeing their worldview crumble before their eyes. The changes we are experiencing are almost revolutionary, with old alliances cracking at the seams, and what has been the focal point of foreign policy assessments - the United States - or “our closest ally” as it is often called, has become unrecognizable to Norwegian politicians. The “rules-based world order” that foreign policy figures from Støre to Moxnes have referred to is apparently unrecognizable. We can only imagine the panic that has hit them.

But don't think that the geopolitical earthquake that shook the world on January 20, when Trump moved back into the White House, has caused Norwegian politicians to rethink or reorient themselves in any way. No one can accuse them of allowing reality to influence policy. No, Norwegian foreign policy makers are still clinging to the NATO lie that “weapons are the way to peace”, and oppose a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine. They insist on staying “on course”, as if everything is the same, they shake Zelensky's hand, and assure that “Norway's support for Ukraine is unwavering - now and in the future”.

It has always been a proxy war

It is entirely logical that the US is negotiating directly with Russia for a peace solution. This confirms what we have been saying all along, that this is a proxy war, where the Ukrainians are used as a tool by the US/NATO to weaken Russia. The fact that Norwegian politicians do not understand this, a fact that is obvious to the rest of the world, says it all.

All that was needed to avoid the tragedy in Ukraine was to keep the country neutral, i.e. never to open up for NATO membership. Already after NATO's ministerial meeting in 2008, where NATO eventually opened the door to both Ukrainian and Georgian membership, Russia expressly stated that this was a red line that must not be crossed. Ukrainian NATO membership would mean war.

But deliberately, and with the support of Norwegian accomplices, NATO (i.e. the USA) had to insist on future Ukrainian membership. In the years that followed, the US and NATO built up the Ukrainian army into a powerful force. When the war came in 2022, only Turkey's army in Europe had a greater military clout than the Ukrainian army.

In the meantime, they signed the Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015, which were supposed to end the civil war in eastern Ukraine, allow for some autonomy in the eastern provinces, and ensure a unified and peaceful Ukraine. Today we know that the Ukrainian leadership, and their Western sponsors, never intended to abide by the agreements, but used the agreements to buy time to arm Ukraine militarily. When Norwegian politicians have constantly talked about an “unprovoked” Russian invasion, there is a whole catalog of empirical evidence that contradicts the claim, this is just the short version.

This has been a war provoked by the US/NATO/EU, but it has not gone according to plan. It has cost an enormous number of lives, destroyed the lives of even more people, created an enormous flow of refugees, and set Ukraine back decades. The political consequences could be that the entire NATO alliance disintegrates.

Prime Minister Støre still insists on Ukrainian NATO membership

Meanwhile, Jonas Gahr Støre is attending the Munich Security Conference, where he allows himself to be interviewed by Norwegian media and says that it is “not unrealistic for Ukraine to join NATO”. The clear change of course on the part of the US does not make Støre change course, he insists on maintaining a policy that has led to the disastrous war!

It is therefore likely that Norway will continue to insist on a “military solution”, i.e. continued large-scale killing. The contempt for human life and suffering that is the consequence of such a policy must arouse disgust among all those who consider themselves humanists. We can count on a united Storting to maintain the appropriations for the lost war, and to squeeze as much as possible out of the state budget to finance it.

We should also note that the government has just extended the collective protection for Ukrainian refugees by one year. This means that none of the more than 90,000 Ukrainian refugees in Norway will have to return home if a peace solution is reached in the next few months. In addition to the war being a huge burden on the state budget, Norwegian municipalities are also in a financially precarious situation. The Ukrainian refugees need housing, school places, healthcare, etc.

Norwegian foreign policy is a disaster

It's time to take a definitive stand against a group of Norwegian politicians who for 25-30 years have demonstrated to the world that they are totally incapable of coming up with sound analyses and designing policies that produce the intended results. Let's point to Jonas Gahr Støre, Jens Stoltenberg, Espen Barth Eide, Erna Solberg, Ine Eriksen Søreide ... well, basically everyone who has been in government and on the Storting's foreign affairs and defense committee.

They all stand together and are responsible for a series of disasters. Let's quickly mention Afghanistan 2001-2021, Libya 2011 and Ukraine 2014 - to this day. It is also obvious to point to the creation of the dysfunctional state of South Sudan, where Norway played a very central role. Similarly, Norway's Middle East policy, with the Oslo Accords as the clearest expression of the fact that Norwegian politicians live in an ideal world and are unable to take political realities as their starting point.

We need a total renovation of the Norwegian Parliament.