NordenBladet — The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has made changes to the groups that are exempt from the requirement of a negative Covid-19 test on entry to Norway. These changes enter into force at midnight.
On Friday 6 November 2020, the Government announced the introduction of the requirement of a negative Covid-19 test when entering Norway. Foreign nations who cannot present documentation of such a test can be refused entry. This requirement applies to most foreign nations who are not resident in Norway. However, some changes were today made for groups with special needs. For further information, please refer to the revised circular relating to entry into force.
NordenBladet — Green transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic was the key topics at the meeting between Prime Minister Erna Solberg and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today.
– European cooperation is essential to our efforts to address the major challenges we are facing, from how to encourage green transformation to how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, said PM Solberg.
Norway is part of European cooperation through the EEA Agreement, the Schengen Agreement and a wide array of other agreements. The meeting provides an opportunity to discuss issues of importance to Norway.
– Cooperation with the EU is vital to promoting and implementing the transition to a greener economy in Norway. We will be a partner in the European Green Deal, and we will work closely with the EU to follow up the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The EU has significantly strengthened cooperation in the area of health in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Cooperation with the EU plays an extremely important part in Norway’s national response to the pandemic, both in terms of the acquisition and distribution of vaccines, and in terms of the exchange of experience and mutual assistance,’ Ms Solberg said.
– In a rapidly changing world, it is important that European countries work together and show solidarity for each other. It also means that we must stay true to our principles and defend our fundamental values, such as democracy and the rule of law, here in Europe as well. We discussed what Norway can do to support the Commission’s efforts in this area, said the Prime Minister.
NordenBladet – King Harald has been back at work for the first time following successful heart surgery last month.
King Harald was declared healthy enough to be able to resume duties from 1 November, Oslo’s Royal Palace said in a short statement to the press and on November 5, the monarch was back at the Royal Palace in Oslo to receive Norway’s Foreign Minister for an audience. Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon also attended. Later the same day, the King also received Thailand’s new ambassador, the United Arab Emirates’ new ambassador and Greece’s new ambassador in a solemn audience at the Royal Palace. On Friday 6 November, the King will hold the weekly Council of State before he receives representatives of Beitostølen Health Sports Centre in audience.
The news that the King is healthy enough to resume his duties has been received with great pleasure by the Norwegian people. The news has been prominent in the media in Norway over the last weeks and many hope that the royal court will publish a photograph of the king during the coming week. So far, there has been no photos of the Kings since he left hospital in October.
King Harald was admitted to Rikshospitalet on 25 September after having problems with heavy breathing. Among other things, the king was tested for Covid-19, which was counted out immediately. On Monday 28 September, he was discharged from hospital, while his sick leave was extended. The hospital continued its investigation after the king was allowed to return home.
On Thursday, October 8, it was announced that King Harald would undergo heart valve surgery. On Friday 9 October, King Harald underwent surgery at Rikshospitalet. The king has been on sick leave since the operation, which was successful. On Friday 30 October, the Palace announced that the king will be back at work from 1 November.
Crown Prince Haakon has performed the constitutional duties in King Harald’s absence. After the recovery, King Harald will again perform his duties as King of Norway.
NordenBladet – Today, the Ministry of Finance has notified relevant EU/EEA authorities of changes in the systemic risk buffer requirement, temporary risk weight floors for real estate exposures, and the identification of domestic systemically important banks. The changes in capital requirements may formally be adopted in approximately one month, and will apply from year-end 2020.
As stated in an 11 December 2019 press release, the Ministry of Finance will adopt amendments to banks’ capital requirements effective from year-end 2020. In accordance with the CRR/CRD IV framework, the Ministry has today notified relevant EU/EEA authorities of the upcoming changes. The notifications have been sent to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the European Banking Authority (EBA), the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), and the European Commission. As mentioned in the 11 December 2019 press release, the Ministry has also notified the identification of DNB and Kommunalbanken as domestic systemically important institutions, and the application of O-SII buffer requirements of 2 and 1 per cent, respectively.
The new requirements will formally be adopted after the notification process with the EU/EEA authorities has been completed, which is expected to take approximately one month. The Ministry will then request the ESRB to issue a recommendation to other EU/EEA states to reciprocate the systemic risk buffer requirement and the risk weight floors, so that these measures may also apply for foreign banks’ activities in Norway.
NordenBladet – The main camp of Norway’s Royal Guard in Oslo has been infected by Covid-19. A total of six people have been diagnosed with coronavirus. On October 26th the Armed Forces wrote that three employees and two soldiers in the camp had been diagnosed with the infection. The five are in the same squad in His Majesty the King’s Guard.
Two days later, another case of infection was reported. Another 76 soldiers and 16 employees have been tested for the virus. The remaining troops in the company are now under curfew to prevent spread and a more difficult infection tracking job.
Huseby military camp is the base of His Majesty the King’s Guard. The camp is modern and houses about 1,100 soldiers, all of whom belong to the king’s guard. Along with the task of looking after the royals and their properties, these are soldiers who will also defend the capital of Oslo and, if necessary, assist the police.
His Majesty the King’s Guard is the Norwegian King’s bodyguard and the largest department in the Royal Norwegian Army. Armed guards have a 24-hour guard at the royal residences, the royal palace, the Crown Prince family’s home Skaugum and the King’s summer residence on Bygdøy. His Majesty the King’s Guard was established in Stockholm in 1856 by King Karl XV, with guard duty in Sweden. Since Norway got its own king in 1905, the Royal Guard has been the Norwegian king’s bodyguard and mainly located in Oslo, Norway.
On 26 February 2020, the Covid-19 virus was confirmed to have spread to Norway. As of 27 September 2020, Norway has performed 1,034,670 tests and reported 13,741 confirmed cases and 274 deaths. The mortality rate has been significantly lower in Norway than in other European countries. In the recent weeks, the number of cases of the virus in Norway has increased dramatically and several new measures to stop the spread have been implemented.
NordenBladet – Norwegian health authorities were sounding new alarms on Monday, after another weekend with record-high increases in new cases of Corona infection. They describe the situation as “serious” and warn that it’s critical to keep the spread of the virus under control.
“We have to turn this trend around and we have to do it now!” exclaimed Dr Espen Nakstad, assistant director of the state health directorate. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the popular and normally mild-mannered Nakstad thinks the Corona situation in Norway now “isn’t far from where we were in March.”
Fully 2,726 new cases have been confirmed during the past seven days leading up to Monday. Norway’s total number of people infected with Covid-19 stood at 20,634 on Monday morning. There’s also been a spike in the number of people needing to be hospitalized, with 63 admitted as of Sunday night. The death toll also rose slightly, to 282, compared to 281 on Friday.
Health officials in Oslo, meanwhile, reported Monday morning that they’d registered 92 new cases overnight, 14 more than on Sunday. The Stovner district on Oslo’s east side replaced Frogner in the west as the area of the Norwegian capital with the highest infection rate, equivalent to 288.1 cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days.
A major increase in testing explains much of the increase in confirmed cases. Line Vold of the state public health institute FHI nonetheless shares Nakstad’s concern. “The development worries us,” Vold told NRK Monday morning. “It’s serious because we see a rapid development with rising infection numbers.”
Vold also expects more hospitalizations, more need for respirators and more deaths in the weeks ahead. “We estimate that we’re detecting around 40 percent of infection cases in society now,” Vold said. In March, when the Corona crisis hit, authorities think they only detected around 10 percent because there was much less testing capacity at the time.
“What worries us now is the trend here, with such rapid increases in the numbers of those infected,” Vold told NRK. The numbers have indeed skyrocketed in the past few weeks, and even in the past few days.
The numbers remain low compared to most other countries, several of which have gone into lockdown again around Europe, but Norway’s total population is also much lower and travel restrictions have been back in place for many weeks. Nakstad said he’s especially worried about how the numbers of people now needing to be hospitalized have soared recently, from single-digit levels late last summer to more than 60 now.
New and expanding outbreaks continue to be reported, from Drammen in the south to Harstad in the north. New outbreaks were also reported within various defense forces: US Marines based at Setermoen in Northern Norway are believed to be behind 21 positive test results at the military camp in Bardu. Six soldiers have tested positive at the Rena camp in Østerdalen during the weekend, and six at the Royal Guard’s camp in Oslo. The positive tests have forced around 1,000 defense personnel into quarantine at Setermoen alone, confirmed an Army spokesman on Sunday.
Norwegian officials tightened Corona regulations last week. Health Director Bjørn Guldvog confirmed to newspaper VG during the weekend that stricter rules are under consideration, including a proposal to set up various infection zones in Norway based on infection risk levels. Guldvog stressed, however, that Norway already has tailored infection rules to various areas so that residents in areas with low or even zero cases of Covid-19 don’t need to unduly be restricted. Current regulations are strictest in Oslo, where face masks are now mandatory in most public places and residents are asked to limit social contact with no more than 10 people per week.
See the government’s own version of the current national restrictions HERE (external link to the government’s own website).
NordenBladet – Crown Prince Regent Haakon, together with his mother Queen Sonja, have received leaders of the Norwegian health authorities at the Royal Palace in Oslo. The royals invited them to lunch on October 29th 2020 to thank them for their ongoing work during the pandemic. For infection control reasons, there was a distance of two meters between everyone present at the lunch and food and drink was set up in advance and there was no serving during the meal.
Nine people attended the event. Currently in Norway, advise is to invite only five people into your home but the Royal Palace is also regarded as a workplace and the large rooms and the high ceilings provide good opportunities for a safe distance from infection. The Norwegian health authorities were represented by Minister of Health Bent Høie, Director of Health Bjørn Guldvog, Director of Public Health Camilla Stoltenberg, Global Health Ambassador John-Arne Røttingen and Ministerial Councillor Bjørn-Inge Larsen.
The Crown Prince Regent brought with him a greeting from His Majesty the King. He then thanked the health authorities and the entire Norwegian health service for the enormous work that has been done since the pandemic hit Norway earlier this year.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said: “No one knew for sure how Covid-19 would hit us. You made decisive choices in a time of doubt. The dilemmas have kept on coming, but together you still found solutions, on behalf of us all.”
Crown Prince Haakon went on to talk about what the pandemic has taken from us, following restrictions on personal freedom, a rise in unemployment and the loss of many who have passed away. The Crown Prince continued: “It could still have gone much worse, as we now know. There is a lot that is still uncertain. Nevertheless, we know some things are important, and we have learned that from you: keep one meter distance to all. Wash your hands. Be at home if we have symptoms.”
Minister of Health Bent Høie thanked the Crown Prince for the lunch. The minister said in his speech: “We do not know where the next outbreak will come, we just know that it will come. Therefore, the whole country must limit the number of people we are now with. And if we limit the number of people we are with, we limit the spread of infection and make infection detection easier”.
Featrud image: Crown Prince Haakon (Jørgen Gomnæs / The Royal Court)
NordenBladet – A huge portion of Norway’s scenic and iconic Dovre Mountain plateau has been returned to its natural state, more than 20 years after the Norwegian Parliament decided to shut down a military firing range at the site. Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts still aren’t entirely welcome though, out of consideration to the wild reindeer also returning to the area.
For more than 80 years, the wide-open mountain plateau was used as an area for military exercises involving bombs and grenades. It was known as Hjerkinn Skytefelt, located over a broad expanse of mountains southwest of Trondheim and far northeast of Oslo, bordered by Dovre National Park, nature preserves and protected landscapes.
The area is known for its iconic mountain peak called Snøhetta, and the southern portion of Dovre was on the centuries-old pilgrims’ trail to Scandinavia’s only cathedral, Nidarosdomen. Dovre itself has a special place in many Norwegian hearts, viewed as a sturdy mountain range that symbolically props up the nation.
All the decades of military activity in one large portion of it, however, left a lot of schrapnel and potentially deadly explosives behind, scattered over an area covering around 165 square kilometers. In 1999, Members of Parliament voted to shut it down, remove all structures built by the military, clean up the area and restore it to the wilderness it was before the army invaded it in 1923.
No one realized at the time what a massive job that would be. It ended up taking 14 years to carry out what’s considered the largest natural restoration project in Norwegian history, at a cost of NOK 575 million. The shooting range itself had been the largest in Southern Norway, used by the defense department after World War II as a training grounds with NATO allies.
By 2008 the military had halted all activity and moved out. Buildings and bridges were dismantled and even roads were removed, but thousands of undetonated bombs and grenades remained. That led to as many as 15,000 soldiers being periodically sent to the area, suited up in protective gear and forming long lines to systematically and carefully walk over the entire area looking for even the tiniest bits of metal. Explosives experts followed close behind, ready to dismantle or detonate dangerous material found along the way.
They’re still not competely finished, with some final work scheduled in the spring, but an official opening of Hjerkinn as part of the Dovre National Park was held this fall to mark the turnover of the military area back to the civilian population. It’s now considered safe and open to all, but especially to the wild herds of reindeer and moskus (musk ox) in the area. Norwegian biologists and reseachers hope they’ll soon roam in the area and not be disturbed by too many hikers, campers or other tourists.
Raymond Sørensen of the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Center in Hjerkinn told newspaper Aftenposten recently that the reindeer are extremely shy and won’t enter areas where even as few as 30 people may discourage them from passing through. Preservation of the rare wild reindeer herds was a major reason for ending military activity in an area that’s also ringed by roads and railway lines that can cut off natural herd migration.
Sørensen hopes the area, which has few if any trails, can mostly remain open wilderness with as few people as possible. No private vehicles are allowed in the area and cycling is only allowed between June 1 and July 15. A buss, however, carries visitors in to a nearby lodge.
“That’s okay but not optimal,” Sørensen told Aftenposten. “The best thing will be to hinder mountain tourism from ruining things for the wild reindeer. We try to veer people away from the most vulnerable areas. From the top of Snøhetta you can see out over the mountain area, without traipsing into it.”
NordenBladet – A sudden decline in oil prices has raised new fears of more job losses in Norway. The value of Norway’s currency also sank after oil prices fell around 13 percent in the past week, and the Oslo Stock Exchange tumbled, too.
The price of Norway’s North Sea crude oil was trading at just over USD 37 a barrel heading into the weekend, down from nearly USD 43 just a week earlier. That also sent the value of Norway’s krone into decline. By mid-morning on Friday, it cost NOK 9.56 to buy one US dollar, compared to levels just over NOK 9 a few weeks ago.
The Oslo Stock Exchange also fell at the start of trading on Friday, since low oil prices always affect the Norwegian economy negatively. Oil remains Norway’s biggest export product and lower prices mean less money flowing into the state treasury. When the oil price falls below USD 40, even some of Norway’s generally profitable oil fields can start generating losses. Already-troubled state oil company Equinor saw its own shares fall by another 1.5 percent Friday morning.
Corona crisis continues
Analysts and economists blamed the oil price decline largely on the latest effects of the Corona virus. Infection rates have been soaring all over Europe and in the US, forcing political leaders to try to hinder infection by imposing more restrictions. As countries head into lockdown again, demand for fuel, goods and services fell even further.
Industrial and labour leaders in Norway were expressing new concerns over an economic outlook that matched the gloomy weather outdoors. Audun Ingvartsen of the labour organization Lederne worried that low oil prices and rising infection levels in Europe will make oil industry leaders less willing to embark on new projects and investments in new oil fields.
“I’m actually worried that this will result in lower employment levels,” Ingvartsen said on national radio Friday morning. He and others involved in the oil industry told state broadcaster NRK that even though the industry has held up so far, the entire branch is affected when oil prices fall and remain relatively low. “Then we have to cut costs and invest less,” Ellen Bakken, chief economist of the industry’s employers’ organization Norsk olje og gass told NRK.
So much uncertainty
Bakken noted that the Norwegian state’s corona compenation packages have saved many jobs so far, but most new jobs only come when the companies invest in new production.
Many of Norway’s North Sea fields can continue to pump up profits on fields where capital costs have already been covered. The offshore supply side of the industry is hit hardest when prices fall because they no longer get orders for new equipment.
Others linked this week’s bad economic news to uncertainty over the outcome of the US presidential election, while Libya surprised the market by increasing oil production this fall. That added more supply when demand is low, noted Bjarne Schieldrop, chief strategist at SEB.
NordenBladet – The Government has decided to allow more family members from outside the EU/EEA to visit relatives in Norway. Grandparents are among those who will now be able to visit. The rules on entry quarantine remain unchanged.
‘I hope this will be an early Christmas gift for all those who have been missing their loved ones. Many children have contacted us and asked whether their grandparents could be allowed to come to Norway. It is therefore good news that Monica is now amending the regulations to ease entry restrictions,’ Prime Minister Erna Solberg said, referring to Monica Mæland, the Minister of Justice and Public Security.
‘Today I am happy to announce that we will be granting exemptions from entry restrictions for more family members. I know, for example, that there are many children who have looked forward to being able to have their grandparents visit. The Prime Minister has made it very clear to me that we must make this possible, and now we are,’ Ms Mæland said.
She added: ‘I emphasise that those concerned must still undergo quarantine, and it is important that they also follow all other infection control rules while visiting Norway.’
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security is in the process of making the necessary regulatory changes. The amended regulations enter into force on 21 October. The regulations and a related administrative circular will include further details on who now will be permitted to travel to Norway.
Under the new rules, exemptions from entry restrictions will be granted for the following foreign nationals:
children and stepchildren over age 21 of a person resident in Norway
parents and step-parents of children over age 21 resident in Norway
grandparents and step-grandparents of a person resident in Norway
grandchildren and step-grandchildren of a person resident in Norway
children of established romantic partners (i.e. children of romantic partners as defined in section 3q of the Regulations relating to entry restrictions for foreign nationals out of concern for public health, which applies to romantic relationships of at least nine months’ duration in which the parties have met each other physically)
a spouse, registered partner, cohabitant or child of a Norwegian national who resides abroad, and who travels on a visit to Norway with the Norwegian national
EEA nationals and their family members residing in third countries
It should be emphasised that the entry restriction rules are in addition to the general rules pertaining to entry contained in the Immigration Act. This means that despite any removal of entry restrictions, the general requirements on travel documents, visas etc. will remain fully in force. Those who are required to have a visa to travel to Norway may still experience practical challenges related to the ability of diplomatic and consular missions and application centres to process applications and issue visas in some countries due to closures or reduced operating hours stemming from infection control measures. However, the vast majority of these locations abroad are now fully or partially open, and it is possible for most people who satisfy the conditions for travelling into Norway to submit an application. In the few places where application centres are not open, the Foreign Service does its utmost to facilitate application submissions in other ways.
‘The Government is working constantly to find the right balance between infection control and other important social considerations. Looking forward, if the infection situation allows it, we will gradually continue opening up for entry by additional groups of foreign nationals who would qualify for entry into Norway under normal circumstances. It is important that this opening occurs gradually and in a controlled manner,’ Ms Mæland said.
