Parliament to vote on emergency fuel subsidies, Progress Party calls for foreign residents to be deported if there is ‘a risk they might commit crime’, and other news from Norway on Thursday.
Parliament to vote on emergency fuel subsidies
Norway’s parliament is set to vote on Thursday on rival proposals to cut the price of diesel and petrol, with the populist Centre Party breaking with the government and pushing ahead with its own plan, which will see carbon taxes on diesel slashed.
The Centre Party is calling for road tax on diesel and petrol to be temporarily lifted until September 1st, and also wants the CO2 tax on construction diesel to be reduced by 2.50 kroner per litre, the CO2 tax on autodiesel to be reduced by 1.33 kroner per litre, the CO2 tax for ships in domestic quota-obligated shipping to be reduced by 1.25 kroner per litre and the CO2 taxes for the fishing fleet to be removed.
Centre Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum told NRK on Thursday morning that his party would be willing to break with the government and vote with the opposition parties.
“We will vote for all proposals that can reduce taxes today,” he said.
The proposal by the Labour government instead focuses on measures to combat the high cost of living for the population in a revised national budget, including one-off payments to many people.
The Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party, Progress Party, and now the Centre Party, have all submitted proposals to temporarily remove the road tax on diesel and petrol.
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Norway PM warns of Iran escalation in Rubio call
Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, warned of escalation in Iran and stressed the importance of US support for Ukraine, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday evening.
“I emphasized that further escalation could have serious consequences, both in the region and globally,” Støre said in a press release.
Støre arrived in Finland on Wednesday evening to take part in the annual summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a UK-led group of countries focused on security in the Baltic and Northern Europe.
“The JEF countries are among the leading contributors to Ukraine, both politically, militarily and in terms of civil support. In the conversation with Rubio, I emphasized the importance of transatlantic support for Ukraine, and how important this was for Norwegian and allied security,” Støre said.
Norwegian human rights body calls for tougher penalties for child gang recruiters
The Norwegian Human Rights Institution, an independent government body under the Norwegian parliament, has called for a new law to make it easier to punish those who recruit children and young people into criminal gangs.
“When vulnerable children and young people are lured or pressured into crime, their lives can be destroyed,” the body’s director, Kai Spurkland, said.
Even if the perpetrators are not personally responsible for the recruitment, they should be able to be punished, the body argued in its annual report.
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Progress Party calls for foreign residents to be deported if ‘they might commit crime’
The far-right Progress Party has complained that a government proposal allowing foreign nationals to be deported if there is a suspicion they plan to commit crimes is “too soft”, calling for the new law to be extended to cover foreign nationals with a residence permit in Norway.
“It is a shame that the government intends for this to mainly apply to people who do not have a residence permit, but not to other people who do have legal residence,” Erlend Wiborg, Frp’s immigration policy spokesperson, said. “We believe that any immigrant who commits serious crime, or poses a risk of doing so, should be deported.”
Last week, the government published a bill outlining its proposal. The proposal is currently out for consultation.